In 2007, residents at Tryon Life Community Farm, a sustainability education center in southwest Portland, Oregon, wanted to use their graywater to water their orchard. They were told they couldn’t under existing codes. Water conservation of this sort was “illegal.” Instead of seeking a variance, they started the Recode project and begin work on “legalizing sustainability.”

Recode partners with the City of Portland’s Office of Sustainable Development to organize Oregon’s first public forum on graywater reuse.

With leadership from Rep. Ben Cannon and Sen. Jackie Dingfelder, and based on drafting and organizing by Recode, Oregon House passes Bill 2080, legalizing graywater reuse.

Recode volunteer Brenna Bell serves on the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Graywater Advisory Committee.

Recode volunteers Mathew Lippincott and Molly (Danielsson) Winter draft composting toilet code for Oregon’s 2011 Reach Code; Recode volunteer Joshua Klyber drafts light straw clay building code. Oregon Building Codes Division adopts Recode’s composting toilet and light straw clay building codes as part of the 2011 Reach Code.

Oregon DEQ begins accepting permits for graywater systems.

Recode’s Ecological Sanitation Campaign tours the state, with Lippincott, Winter (Danielsson), and Melora Golden visiting DEQ offices and organizing community meetings to talk about innovative sanitation solutions: options, costs, and impacts.

Recode leads a broad coalition of allies in writing a model composting toilet code. Recodes hosts two-day water and sanitation regulatory activism workshop with participants from around the state.

Recode volunteers Kim Nace, Abe Noe-Hayes, Mathew Lippincott, Melora Golden and Molly (Danielsson) Winter are part of IAPMO’s site built composting toilet code working group for IAPMO’s Water Efficiency Standard (WE•Stand), a supplement to the Uniform Plumbing Code. To help learn about innovative approaches to sanitation regulation, Recode and the Rich Earth Institute traveled to Sweden and Finland to learn the most advanced means and methods of eco-sanitation.

Recoded hosted a tour and kick the tires session of the East Multnomah Water Conservation District and Lewis and Clark Colleges composting toilets for county and city plumbing inspectors, Department of Environmental Quality and building and development professionals.

Recode helped promote Graywater educational Events for homeowners in the greater Portland Metro area. Events were led by Depave and Graywater Action.

• Oregon Governor Brown records Executive Order 20-17 with water efficiency measures outlined by Recode.

• Recode leads tours of Hassalo on Eighth in Portland to showcase their innovative water reuse work and share the regulatory and technical lessons learned with a range of stakeholders from regulators to architects.

• Published a white paper documenting the ‘Top Ten’ Issues for WA, CA and OR. This research helps define the future work for Recode. Recode leads the Water Summit for Living Future Conference.

International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) publishes the site built composting toilet code in the 2017 WE•Stand.

Oregon Plumbing board unanimously creates rule requiring that all new fixtures meet the EPA Water Sense® standard. This fulfills 1 of 2 water goals of the Governor’s 20-17 Executive Order that Recode helped define in 2017.

• International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) publishes the site inspection section for our 2017 composting toilet and urine reuse code for the 2020 WE•Stand.

• Spurred on by the global Covid-19 pandemic, Recode joins a national effort to create and temporary moratorium on water shut-offs due to affordability. Following this effort, the group begins to make the moratorium permanent.

• Recode initiates and chairs the National Gold Ribbon Commission for the beneficial use of Urine. The commission seeks to creating a national plumbing and sanitation standard for urine reuse.

• Proposed by Recode In support of the Governor’s 20-17 Executive Order The Oregon state plumbing board adopts the WE•Stand “Water Demand Calculator”.

• Washington State passes law drafted by Recode allowing for the Risk-based Framework for On-site, nonpotable water reuse.

• Recode is the principal proposer on Appendix S of the IAPMO Unified Plumbing Code, which would adopt Section 403 of the Composting toilet and urine reuse sections oof the WE•Stand

• Recode works with Earth Advantage to help adopt all commercial and residential reach building codes into Oregon’s building codes. This makes all buildings climate challenged ready.

• Recode become a steering committee member of the national coalition, the People’s Water Project which is building web-based tool kits to combat water utility privatization, water shut-offs due to affordability, and promoting the Human right to water.

• Recode updates the WE•Stand with new a ‘eco-sanitation’ section specifically for urine reuse and application rates for nutrient recovery (humanure and beneficial urine reuse).

• Nutrient Recovery Service in Portland OR becomes the first urine-based fertilizer that is made using solar energy and collected rain water.