Oregon, America's "Green" State

Oregon has long been at the forefront of environmental awareness and responsible travel and tourism in America, so much so that a campaign has been launched to change the state’s name from the Beaver State to the Green State.

Oregon has been pushing for environmental initiatives since the sixties, when Senator McCall passed the historic Beach Bill preventing private development along Oregon’s coastline. The subsequent Bottle Bill in 1971, was designed to control littering and boost recycling. Roadside litter dropped from 40% to the current 6% because of the bill’s enactment.

As far as business and sustainable investment go, Oregon is pushing boundaries and boasts a Governor who’s more than a little enthusiastic about green policies. 60 Oregon businesses are directly tied to the solar industry and the State was recently awarded a $1.34 million grant to invest in solar energy research which will be distributed between the University of Oregon and the Oregon State University to create the Photovoltaics Laboratory of the Oregon Support Network for Research and the Oregon Process Innovation Center for Sustainable Solar Cell Manufacturing. Governor Ted Kulongoski also worked to apply a standard to derive 25% of Oregon’s energy from renewable sources by 2025. Rumours have it he also envisages Oregon as being an electric-car hub in the near future.


Having experienced an employment slump, losing many farming jobs across the state, Oregon is looking towards creating eco-jobs both in sustainable industries and within the hospitality trade as more and more green projects are put into motion. Travel Oregon and Travel Portland who both recently appointed managers for sustainable tourism are overseeing two major projects to add to the State’s high-level green credentials, the Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway and the National Geographic Society’s project to create an interactive map of the Central Cascades area pinpointing local businesses and tourism resorts, nature spots and unique geographical features.


You can check out the Central Cascades website here www.thecentralcascades.com to plan your green tour of the green state!