More than 350 people from across the Northwest came together at the Portland Art Museum in March to support community-based sustainability. The annual Sustainable Northwest Auction and Awards Gala serves to promote the region’s market for sustainable goods and services, and celebrate the great achievements of the sustainability movement in the Northwest. The event was an unprecedented success, enabling SNW to raise $75,000 in support of community-based sustainability.

The event featured a sustainability-themed auction, highlighting over 120 regional businesses that sell sustainable products and/or adhere to sustainable practices. The variety of auction packages ranged from an organic goodie basket for dogs from Portland-based Castor and Pollux, to a week-long ecotourism kayak adventure in Baja, Mexico.

The evening began with a beautiful invocation by Jeff Mitchell, former Chairman of the Klamath Tribes, and a very special tribute to SNW founder, the late Oregon State Senator Ted Hallock by daughter Stephanie Hallock and two-term Governor John Kitzhaber.

After a thrilling live auction that vividly punctuated the room’s overwhelming level of commitment to sustainability, Allen Alley, Chair of the 2007 Oregon Business Plan Steering Committee and Deputy Chief of Staff for Governor Kulongoski, delivered a rousing speech about “Sustainability as an Oregon Asset.” The night concluded with the presentation of the 2007 Cecil D. Andrus Leadership Awards for Sustainability and Conservation, and very thoughtful speeches by award recipients, Nik Blosser of Celilo Group Media and Jim Jungwirth of Jefferson State Forest Products.