The Oregon plastic bag ban bill

I previously wrote a post about our problem with plastic, and the recent debate about a bill in Oregon that would create a ban on plastic bags in most stores inspired me to write another post.  Actually, it was the comments on the article found here that fully convinced me to write again.  As a note, I think that part of the rationale for the bill is to have more money go to the paper mills of Oregon instead of out-of-state plastic makers.  I like the idea of supporting our economy, however, I am more interested in promoting the idea of using reusable bags instead.  I don't know if this is a perfect bill, but I think that it is great that we are thinking forward and admitting that we have a problem.  If this bill helps us and generations to come, then great.


I am often startled by people's comments because lot of them are ANGRY SQUID comments, and I am genuinely surprised by how many people are angry squids.  In this instance, my blood pressure rose while reading the comments to this article because I was just so frustrated by the selfishness and shortsightedness.  I am going to quote some of the comments (verbatim) and then respond to them.  Before I do so, I want to say that I understand that not everybody is convinced that plastic is a huge problem, and I want to remind you that either way I love and respect you.  If you still think I'm wrong after hearing what I have to say, then I respect your right to choose.  However, I simply hope that you make your decisions about beliefs based on truth and selflessness rather than convenience.  Not everybody makes this type of decision based on convenience, but I feel like it is too often the case.


Here we go:
"Ban plastic grocery bags? You mean instead of using the lightweight grocery bags to bag our household garbage, I'll have to buy those really thick for-purchase garbage bags made by GladBag and Hefty?? And this helps the environment because????????? You can't fix stupid!"
First of all, I absolutely agree that using thick garbage bags is generally incredibly wasteful.  That being said:
1) Not all of the for-purchase bags are thick.  We used to buy garbage bags even thinner than store bags.
2) Even better, there are ways to deal with garbage that don't involve plastic bags.  From what I found online, it wasn't until the 50's that people started using plastic garbage bags.  What Matthew and I do is use a milk jug with the top cut off to collect organic waste, and then anything else can be put in trash can without a bag.  I'm sure that you can find something that works for you.


"Well of all the stupid laws to wory about. I agree there are so many more important issues to attend too.
Why in the hell don't they just require that all plastic bags be biodegradable? I have seen segments on the viability of that solution. They are made of either corn or wheat compounds. Let's just have all the Californians go back home and pass stupid laws there"
I absolutely agree that there are other issues that are affecting Oregonians including unemployment, the economy, schools, and a myriad of other things that need to be addressed.  However, that doesn't mean we should ignore the environment.
I'm not sure who has said that turning to plastic bags made out of plants was a good idea, but almost everything I have read has said that we can't use this as an answer.  The problem with this idea is that by using corn or wheat, we use farmland to make plastic instead of food.  Since food security is a serious concern, we should have reservations about this.
Finally... Californians?  Eh?


(This next comment was in response to someone remarking on how much litter is a problem.)
"Don't blame the litter, blame the litterer. There is a surprising amount of oil in our storm drains. Should we ban oil of every kind too? Goos lick getting around."
Absolutely littering is the responsibility of the person doing it.  However, it is a far stretch to go from banning plastic bags (which have a clear replacement of paper bags or, preferably, reusable bags) to banning all oil.  We shouldn't avoid solving one problem because there are other problems.  This makes absolutely no sense.


"Isn't it amazing that a small group of people we elect know what is best for us? Most of us use the bags and do not throw them out the car window. Think of all the litter pick up folks who will be without a job.Wonder what other stupid things they can think up? But we elected them to improve schools, cut back government spending,help the homeless, stop Illegals, etc. Plastic bags? WONDERFUL go team!!!"
From my understanding, we are supposed to elect people that we want to represent us to make good choices for our state - both the people and the land.  I think that it is their job to become educated about issues that we don't all spend a lot of time thinking about (like environmental problems) and then do something about it.  Additionally, many Oregonians are absolutely for this bill and are glad it is around, so it doesn't seem inappropriate for it to appear and be discussed.  Again, I agree that there are many important issues to be addressed, but I still don't think that is an excuse to ignore environmental issues.


"If this bill passes, here is what I plan to do: Do my shopping (I usually do most of it once a week when I buy a LOT of things) and when the clerk rings up my order and asks if I want to pay for bags --that the store will make a big profit on--just say, "No. Just put all that stuff back back into the cart like it was." Then say, "By the way, I will need someone to to take this to my car." When I get to my car, I will ask the courtesy clerk to put all the groceries into sacks or boxes or milk crates that I brought along. Let the manager of your grocery store know this is what you are going to do and I think the grocers will decide this is not a good bill at all."
I cannot tell why this person does not like this bill.  However, it in general just seems like a good example of belligerent, unreasonable selfishness.


"This hearing was a farce. It's obvious the conclusion was pre-ordained. This needs to be put on the ballot where the voters will shoot it down. This is not the proper role of government, nor should it be spending it's time on this with an official unemployment rate of over 10%. Communist Oregon is right. Police state is also in the making here."
Some would disagree and appreciate that our government tries to help out our environment.  Additionally, "communist"?   "Police state"?  Really?  I'm getting tired of these words being thrown around by people with apparently no understanding of their meaning.  This bill has nothing to do with either of these things.


"PLEASE PLEASE. Could someone please find a way that Oregon, california, and washington could just break away from the country and just float out in to the pacific and form their own rotgut leftwing, liberal, moronic state? You folks have got to be the most mundane creatures on earth. Do you have ANY idea how you look to the rest of the country as you liberals battle over bags? 
You have got to understand........after the bags these left wingers will then set their sights on something else to ban. It will never end. Does ANYONE have ANY backbone in that liberal democrat state to stand up to these worthless libs and tell them to shove it?"
I'm not exactly sure that we should care what the rest of the country thinks about us, but thanks for caring. :)
As for banning things, I'm sure that another ban will happen.  However, I think that they happen because collectively people seem really good at making really bad choices.  While I personally think that people should be allowed to make certain mistakes, I tend to think that if our mistakes are affecting everybody, perhaps that's when the government should get involved.  This is an opinion, not fact.  Just saying.


"Let's take it one step further and ban all clear plastic wrap on meats. Grocery stores can just put everything out in the refrigerated areas unwrapped, you can grab the hunk of meat you want and the checker can throw it in your cloth bag, a paper sack, or you can just hand carry it out to your car. Oops, did I say car, I meant non-polluting bicycle."
Hey, yeah!  Now you've got the idea!  Oh wait... You weren't serious. ;)
I think that this person is a great example of our population's inability to understand that things don't have to be how they currently are.  It is kind of weird that we wrap everything in plastic.  It's a very new idea, and it's not even necessarily good for us health-wise let alone environmentally.  While this commenter thinks he or she is proposing a crazy idea, it's really not.  Butcher paper is certainly an alternative.  It's been done before.


"Have you lamebrains thought yet about HOW MUCH IT RAINS IN OREGON? Those of us that have to haul our junk from Fred's home in it surely haven't ... but going to paper bags just means we won't be able to carry that stuff home before the bags get soaked and everything falls out into the puddles! Big help from you people who know what's best for the rest of us! No thanks to any of you or any more of your stupid ideas!"
Again, convenience is not a valid reason to continue doing something detrimental.  Additionally: Reusable bags.  I'm an Oregonian lamebrain who manages to walk to and from stores without plastic bags without problems. :)


In a sort of conclusion, let's use this moment to examine what we do and consider the immediate and future effects.  Let's be willing to reconsider our understanding of the world around us.  Let's be willing to inconvenience ourselves for the benefit of others.  Let's make good decisions so that the government doesn't feel the burden of the results of our poor ones.


And, of course, don't forget to be awesome!

Chapter One – The Ugly Duckling

I’m in middle school, and the boys never like me.  Seriously.  People say I don't know that, but nobody can ever tell me of anybody who has liked me.  They just say that to make me feel better.  It makes me feel worse.  I am too tall, and I weigh a lot.  I realize daily that I am not dainty.  I’m not skinny.  I’m not beautiful.  I have the blond hair and blue eyes that people seem to like, but otherwise, I am out of luck.  I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.  I get made fun of when I’m dressing down for PE because my legs aren’t shaved.  Then I learn how to shave and am mortified if I miss any hairs.  I can’t miss them or I’ll be teased.  I regret wearing shorts when I find a spot of hair on my knee.  I’m hopeless, and I just can’t do it right.  My best friend is the girl that every guy likes.  She is small and cute, and she has shoes with buttons on them.  She always looks good and says the right things.  I have liked the same guy forever.  He confides in me and tells me about his problems with his on-again, off-again girlfriend, but he never sees me as anything but a friend who listens to him.  He gives me hugs sometimes, and he has no clue how lonely they make me feel.  That is what I feel; I feel alone.  I feel like I need to remove myself from my group of friends because I don’t belong.  I just want to be happy, but I can’t be.

I’m in ninth grade, and I’m still alone.  I wake up and daily dread peering at myself in the mirror.  Sometimes my face is so offensive to look at that I drape my hair down to cover it.  I just don’t look good.  My clothes are all wrong.  My family never goes out of town, and I don’t have anywhere but Fred Meyer to buy clothes meant for a teenage girl.  My pants don’t fit right.  They are high waters.  They are old lady pants that are meant to have the waist worn above the belly button.  I feel uncomfortable in my own skin.  I like a different guy, and he seems to like me.  He talks to me a lot and spends time with just me, and he says he likes me.  He swing dances with me on the beach.  He teaches me about the physics involved in a bubble showing a rainbow of colors.  He also likes my best friend, though.  Then he out of the blue stops talking to me.  I can’t get out of bed.  I can’t stop the tears from spilling down my cheeks.  I want to stay in my room with the lights down with my music loud enough to drown out my pain.  I write poetry to spill out my heart before it explodes.  My days are dark, and I just want to be happy, but I can’t be.

I’m a sophomore, and a junior, and a senior.  I am running, and I am healthier.  I have more confidence.  People seem to like to talk to me.  A couple of boys like to talk to me.  Not a lot, but a couple.  I learn to drive and take an annual trip 45 minutes north to buy pants that fit.  I smile more.

I’m in college, and I’m in my twenties.  People laugh when I say that I used to be incredibly awkward because they believe I’m exaggerating.

Bedroom wall before and after

After we got married, we bought these picture frames to display our photos. They are kind of dull though...

However, I decided to put all of the sleeves from the CDs I've using to make CD art to good use!

Cute little frames!

More CD art...

I posted here instructions on how to make this fun craft using otherwise wasted CDs. This weekend I went on another CD painting spree, and this is now the final collection on our living room wall. Some of them are difficult to see when captured on camera, but you can get an idea of what they turned out like!

Mathematics Education

My brother writes often about the significance of math education. The most recent post can be found here. As I was commenting on his post, I realized that I had a lot to say in response, so I decided to make my own post as well.

First of all, I want people to know my experience in math education. I have spent most of my life being a math student. I came to college in 2005, and I earned a BS in Mathematics and a BS in Education, and I am also a licensed high school math teacher. Additionally, I stayed in school after graduation, and I am working on my MS in Mathematics. While doing so, I am a teaching assistant, so I have continued to teach math while learning math. That's a lot of math and a lot of education!

In my experience in the education program while training to become a teacher, I found that the current paradigm in the public education sector is that everything taught should be made relevant to students. I cannot argue with the fact that students always want to know when they will use what they are learning. I cannot argue that if students know that something is applicable, they often are more captivated by it. However, I balked at this because I was well aware that much of math is not "applicable" to daily life. While applications to daily life can be found at times, if students were only taught that which is applicable to them, they would miss out on a lot of math.

Additionally, they would miss a beautiful part of math. Years after I finished my last education class, I now realize a large part of why the "relevance" paradigm bothers me. It blindly ignores the significance of the value of thought and logic. Our society has become one where thinking well is not valued, and our education system seems to be changing in a way that does not discourage this fact. If we as educators seem to value end results over the thinking process, who will teach our students to think? As Kenny explains in his post, pure mathematics begins with a few simple assumptions, and then we start a process where we discover what must be true based on our assumptions. While certainly not everybody will use calculus or even algebra often in life, we should not ignore the value of being able to think and reason! I believe that the "relevance" paradigm is allowing our society to continue to devalue the ability to think and reason well. We need to be honest when students ask us, "When will we use this?" The honest answer might include, "You might never use these facts and skills, however, if you need them it will be great to have them." However, the answer should also include, "Regardless of whether or not you use these math skills someday, I am helping you to learn how to think well. Your brain is being sharpened each time you struggle and then push through as you solve a problem. You can become a more capable, reasonable human being for the rest of your life as a result of your math education."

To you students of math, please do not write your education off as a waste of your time. I have spent the last six years of my life being frustrated and challenged by mathematics, and I promise you that I can look back and see how much my thinking skills have improved. Accept the challenge of a new problem, even if you do not think you "need" it, and you will be amazed at what your mind can do for you.

I get to wait for the bus...

Yet another reason to adore Corvallis: They just made bus service free. They created a citywide fee to pay for it, and for just a couple of dollars per family a month, anybody can ride the bus anytime. How cool is that?

Public transportation is pretty sweet. It can be very fuel and energy efficient, and I think it can save people time (when a good system is in place and utilized) because it certainly could reduce the amount of traffic on the road. The only problem is that our country is kind of slow compared to other developed countries. We seem to think that it is our right to drive around our personal vehicles without a thought to the consequences for our environment and our wallets. (You may think that gas prices are high now, but did you realize that additionally our government heavily subsidizes the oil? You're paying even more than you think.) We seem to be pretty convinced that our own convenience should be our number priority.

I admit it certainly isn't always convenient. I've had to wait for a bus for over 30 minutes on the rarest occasion when it is that late during the evening rush hour. I could have driven our own car or walked in that amount of time. But I stood there stubbornly. Why? Because I get to wait for a bus. It is a privilege to be able to be part of something bigger and better. Because if more of us support our bus system and use it, the stronger and more reliable it will become. Because our children and grandchildren are more valuable than my convenience.

Do you get to wait for a bus?

What Valentine's Day looks like...

A beautiful rainy day in Oregon! Seriously pouring...

Valentine's Day is a great day to give blood! What better way to tell up to three people that you love them than by helping to save their lives? On a separate note, I was curious to see how my iron levels were doing, and I actually have better iron than before changing to a "near vegetarian" diet. Go leafy greens!

Nerdy Valentine for Matthew...

Eh?

Obligatory adorable shot!

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope it was filled with love in some way!