"I began to feel that the world was being overtaken by pesticides and pollution and changing the way the world operates," Estrin says. "It just kind of took me over. This is my mission, my goal."

As the years have passed, Millie has continued to make conscious choices about how she lives in the world. A few years ago, she started reevaluating how she and her husband eat and has started buying organic whenever she can.  

She has also had a profound influence at her synagogue, Temple Beth Sholom, where she has encouraged the administration and congregation to remember the environment and take action. Estrin was fundamental in helping the Temple apply for a grant from Marion County to purchase ClearStream units for recycling purposes at the synagogue. She has also encouraged them to use regular dishes instead of paper plates and to buy environmentally friendly cleaning products. Estrin says that the Reconstructionist Movement, the approach to Judaism that Temple Beth Sholom is affiliated with, has fortunately also increased its sustainability efforts.  

"I'm not a lone voice in the wilderness anymore," she said.  

Estrin was also involved in bringing the Secretary of State, Bill Bradbury, to the Temple to present "An Inconvenient Truth," an educational project on global warming that Secretary Bradbury has been delivering throughout the state.

At her home along the Willamette River in Keizer, as a certified Master Gardener, Estrin gardens organically while making other choices for her home that benefit the environment. The new carpet in her living room is made from recycled soda bottles and she is planning to install a new bamboo floor in her kitchen.

Estrin readily admits that she is "going on 84," but carries the passion, eagerness, and youthful energy of someone half her age.  

"I think about my children, my grandchildren, my great-grandchildren," Estrin said.  "This is the inheritance I want to leave, a good world."