Category Archives: Sustainability

Upcoming Pre-Events and Dates

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APRIL 9th, THURSDAY 4-7PM – “TRASHION” PARTY:

    APRIL 10th, FRIDAY MIDNIGHT – GARMENT SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Go to the Submission Page and fill out the Submission Form, pay the fee, and send 3 photos that show your materials, your design, and your construction process. The further along you are, the more information the jury will have to make their decision.

    APRIL 17th, FRIDAY 4:30 – 7:00ish – EARTH DAY FASHION SHOW AND MARKETPLACE: COCC Clothing Connection annual event is a benefit for a free service that provides school and work clothing to students of COCC and Oregon State University-Cascades (OSU-Cascades). Rubbish Renewed will be there to share and celebrate!

    APRIL 25th, SATURDAY 11-3 – TEC EARTH DAY FAIR AND PARADE: Location: Alpenglow Park, 61049 SE 15th St, Bend, OR 97702

    MAY 1st, FRIDAY – FIRST FRIDAY ART WALK DOWNTOWN: Donning trash fashion, Rubbish Renewed will be out enjoying the evening on the town and sharing information about the upcoming Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show!

    MAY 9th, SATURDAY – THE RUBBISH RENEWED ECO FASHION SHOW!!!! Whether you come for the innovative runway trash fashion, the live auction, the eco marketplace, interactive art installation, the bites & sips, or just to witness the sheer creativity of Central Oregon students and artists turning garbage into garments — this night always delivers. Link for Tickets Here!

    Garment Submission Deadline Friday, April 10th!

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    Tickets just went live and it’s 2 weeks until the garment design submission deadline at midnight on Friday, April 10th. Remember you don’t need to have your garment completed, but the further along you are, the easier it is for the jury to recognize your vision in your photos and artist renderings. Read the material guidelines carefully.  Here is the link to the Adult & Student Runway Submission Page. It doesn’t hurt to get your submission in early.

    Check out these materials from a few designs that have started to roll in!

    Tickets are now on sale for the 14th Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show on Saturday, May 9th at the Pavilion. Use the BUY TICKETS button on the side bar, link from the tickets drop down menu, or scan the QR code on the poster, the Source ad, or below!

    Shop Reused & Local for a Sustainable Season

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    School’s out for winter break. Weather’s starting to feel wintery, and the community is bustling. This is a great time to do last minute holiday shopping in town. In Bend, we have a bounty of local, sustainable, diverse gift gathering spaces. Check out three great community focused businesses (and Rubbish Renewed supporters) to spend your dollars locally and make sustainable purchasing choices that are lighter on the planet!

    RESTORE: 224 NE Thurston Avenue

    For the handy person in your life the ReStore has a wide variety of home improvement materials, tools and furnishings almost exclusively donated by our generous community. Shopping at ReStore helps support the construction of Habitat homes that are built for energy efficiency. These affordable homes ensure families have every opportunity to thrive and grow.

    GEAR FIX: 550 SW Industrial Way #1

    For your outdoor enthusiast needs check out The Gear Fix! They consign high quality outdoor gear and repair your damaged favorites. Gear Fix cultivates a sense of community both inside and outside of the shop helping make our area inclusive for all that choose to venture outdoors.

    COSA CURA: 2735 NW Crossing Dr. #101 & 19570 Amber Meadow Dr, #170

    For your stylish fashion and home decor needs Cosa Cura is the place! The store currently represents 80+ Independent Artists & Designers and carries fashion from 8000+ local consignors. Cosa Cura creates an atmosphere of sustainable style, creativity, local support and community service. “Killer style and saving the planet one fabulous outfit at a time.”

    Showcased for Action: 2025 Business Challenge Garment Gallery Posted

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    I’m so proud to live in a town where many local businesses put our environment in the forefront of their work. Not only considering waste, but also community, social, and global actions. Looking back on last year’s Business Challenge Gallery post inspired me to renew the message:

    “In Bend, we have the power to create a holistic sustainable community. More than just action around waste, it’s about access to affordable housing, supporting local farms and food production, prioritizing employee well-being, creating green-spaces and access for recreating and habitat in these, shifting status quo policies surrounding waste and distribute items for reuse, establishing safe routes for biking and walking… the Business Challenge participants are making a difference through local, community focused practices, that empower people, and ultimately contribute to a better world. It’s more important than ever to step up and get involved.”

    Celebrate the creativity and beauty showcased for action in the 2025 Business Challenge Garment Gallery and get inspired by the emerging work happening in our community!

    6 of the 7 Business Challenge Garments at the 2025 Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show. From left to right: Lonza, DIYcave, ReStore, ReCoHere, Bend Anesthesiology Group, and Gear Fix (missing Humm Kombucha). Visit the 2025 Business Challenge Garment Gallery for captivating photos of each garment, their description, story and businesses’ sustainable practices.

    Rubbish Renewed 2025 had a diverse team of photographers. Thank you to Kimberly Teichrow Photography, Joe Kline Photography, Stark Photography, Melissa Barnes Dholakia, and Greg Maffei for the incredible images you’ll find in our galleries.

    Check out the 2025 Business Challenge Garment Gallery and look for more posts coming soon!

    Hidden Creatives: 2025 Adult Show Gallery Posted!

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    Bend is a haven for environmentally conscious creatives. You can find local artists openly producing significant sustainable pieces, but many innovators are hidden in the cracks. People known in our community as teachers, medical care providers, outdoor professionals… are quietly creating powerful pieces that reflect their commitment to sustainability, education, and artistry. Luckily, some materialize for meaningful opportunities like the Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show! Among these incredible hidden designers are: Martha, once a Realms student, is now the Community Engagement Coordinator at the High Desert Museum; Katie, a first time Rubbish Renewed Designer, is an inpatient hospital pharmacist; DeeDee is the VP of Homeowner Services for Bend-Redmond Habitat for Humanity and has produced pieces for RR every year; and the list goes on. Take a look at the 2025 Adult Garment Gallery and enjoy the stories and designs created by a vibrant community of eco-conscious designers!

    “RUBBISH ROMANTICISM” Designer: Martha Campbell Model: Rona Campbell; “A PROPER BAG LADY” Designer: Lloyd McMullen Model: Mikayla Gil; “POOL PARTY” Designer/Model: Qristy Kurtz; “BEN’S BACKPACK 2.0” Designer: Meg Knight Model: Ben Knight; “GARDEN PARTY” Designer: DeeDee Johnson Model: Robin Cooper Engle; “INTRAVENOUS SEAMSTRESS” Designer/Model: Katie Valentine

    Rubbish Renewed 2025 had a diverse team of photographers. Thank you to Kimberly Teichrow Photography, Joe Kline Photography, Stark Photography, Melissa Barnes Dholakia, and Greg Maffei for the incredible images you’ll find in our galleries.

    Check out the 2025 Adult Garment Gallery and look for more posts coming soon!

    Students Inspired! 2025 Show Gallery Posted

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    When people ask me what my favorite thing is about being the producer of the Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show, it always comes down to the students. They inspire me to step up my game as a global citizen, a community member, an artist, a designer, a teacher, and an environmental steward. I’m blown away every year by their creativity, their garment stories, and the craftsmanship, even by the youngest designers. This year the 2025 Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show showcased student designers from 17 Central Oregon schools – from 3rd grade to college! Check out the 2025 Student Garment Gallery and see what students inspired create.

    Rubbish Renewed 2025 had a diverse team of photographers. Thank you to Kimberly Teichrow Photography, Joe Kline Photography, Stark Photography, Melissa Barnes Dholakia, and Greg Maffei for the incredible images you’ll find in our galleries.

    Check out the 2025 Student Garment Gallery and look for more galleries and blog posts coming soon!

    Bend Lifestyle Magazine Celebrates Rubbish Renewed!

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    “What do you get when a small group of visionary educators, artists, creators and environmentalists with a passion for the planet – and future generations – join forces with a mission to reimagine waste by creating couture with a conscience? You get Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show: a dazzling event where landfill-bound debris is transformed into jaw-dropping garments and designs. You get an event where creativity becomes a catalyst for change.” Read the complete in-depth article by Lynette Confer at Bend Lifestyle Magazine here!

    GARDEN PARTY Designer: DeeDee Johnson Model: Robin Copper Engle Photo: Kimberly Teichrow

    Thank you Bend & Sponsors!

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    Once again, we pulled off this multifaceted, highly engaging, sustainably minded, community connecting event! The 13th Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show was enriched this year by more interactive sustainable thinking – art, activities, free design workshops, and a developed reusables system. These, in combination with the mesmerizing trash fashion show, raised the community impact of this even. Thank you sponsors, thank you Bend! We simply couldn’t have done it without you!

    CREATURE OF FASHION – ReStore Business Challenge Designers: Lisa Mcluskie, DeeDee Johnson, Restore Employees Brian & Keegan Model: Lisa Mcluskie Photographer: Joe Kline

    Your support for creativity, the magical transformation of innovative materials, passion for our planet, and uplifting more than 700 people to find unique ways to think about waste, made the 2025 Rubbish Renewed the best fundraising and eco-elevating event in Bend!

    Your support helped bring student designers from 17 Central Oregon schools 3rd grade to college and adult designers new to fashion and those who have been with us since the beginning. Your support of diversity is what makes the Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show matchless, engaging, and meaningful! And with your support we raised nearly $20,000 for REALMS Schools continuing the vision to foster scholarship, strengthen community, and inspire stewardship through active learning.

    We feel so proud of the space and event we collectively created to celebrate and promote sustainability through the magic of trash fashion. It was a beautiful evening filled with hope, love, and community. Together we proved again, that Rubbish Renewed is not just a fashion show and not just a fundraiser, but a creative celebration of re-imagining waste, rethinking our relationship with trash, and inspiring people to live lighter on the planet. It is a testament to the power of people with aligned belief in a mission bigger than ourselves!

    With Gratitude, The Rubbish Renewed Team

    And the 2025 Business Challenge Winner is…

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    The 2025 Business Challenge was the most diverse yet. Restore, Gear Fix, Lonza, Humm, Bend Anesthesiology Group, DIYcave, and ReCoHere gave it their all and showed us how thinking outside of the box with materials can uplift sustainability through creativity and fun.

    And for the 2nd year in a row, the winner is…. Gear Fix, with Moth Mess Monster, taking home the 2025 Rubbish Renewed Coveted Trash Trophy to add to their winning display! Congratulations (again) Gear Fix!

    E-Bike and Mountain Bike Raffle at Rubbish Renewed!

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    All of my professional career I commuted to work by bicycle. I still ride my 1986 Rock Hopper, a stout, pre-suspension mountain bike that I even rode, years ago, from Seattle to Bolivia. I must have more than 50,000 miles on it. It needs a 4th paint job. Bike commuting and biking in general are acts of inspiring community for a sustainable earth, the tag line for Rubbish Renewed.

    This year, at the Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show on May 10th, we are raffling 2 bikes donated by Bendr Cyclery! With only 160 maximum tickets being sold for each bike, you have great odds to win! One is an Aveton Level 1 e-bike valued at $1200. The other is a Fuji Adventure Mt Bike valued at $530. You can link to buy tickets now and don’t have to be present to win!

    ALTHOUGH YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE THERE TO WIN, IT’S A LOT MORE FUN TO COME TO THE SHOW!

    Rubbish Renewed Returning Features:

    • Electrifying trash fashion runway show with intermission (different garments each half)
    • Live auction of a select group of garments
    • Eco-marketplace of locally made, creative products
    • Interactive sustainable booths
    • Competitive Business Challenge
    • Local food and Drink
      • Food carts – The Bob, Bigfoot BBQ, The Pizza Cart
      • Slow Ride Mobile Bar – with beverages from: Willamette Valley Vineyards, Boneyard Beer, Avid Cider, Crater Lake Spirits, and Humm Kombucha
    • VIP Experience (special ticket)

    New This Year:

    SCAN QR CODE FOR TICKETS:

    WE CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU AT THE RUBBISH RENEWED ECO FASHION SHOW ON MAY 10TH, AT THE PAVILION! DOORS AT 5:30.