4A |
WEDNESDAY EDITION
| DECEMBER 12, 2018
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
Opinion
| 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
C
The First Amendment
ongress shall make no law respecting an es-
tablishment of religion or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom
of speech, or of the press, or the right of the
people peaceably to assemble, and to petition
the Government for a redress of grievances.
“I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.” —Thomas Jefferson (1800)
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Copyright 2018 © Siuslaw News
Published every Wednesday and Saturday at 148 Maple St. in Florence, Lane County, Oregon.
A member of the National Newspaper Association and Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association.
Periodicals postage paid at Florence, Ore. Postmaster, send address changes to: Siuslaw News, P.O.
Box 10, Florence, OR 97439; phone 541-997-3441; fax 541-997-7979. All press releases may be sent
to PressReleases@TheSiuslawNews.com.
Jenna Bar tlett
Ned H ickson
Erik Chalhoub
Publisher, ex t. 318
Editor, ex t. 313
Co n s u l t i n g E d i to r 8 3 1 -7 6 1 -7 3 5 3
echalhoub@register-pajaronian.com
M ar k e t i n g Di re c to r, e x t . 3 2 6
O ffice Super visor, ex t. 312
Pro d u c t i o n Su p e r v i s o r
Pre s s M a n a ge r
Su s a n G u t i e r re z
Cathy Dietz
Ron Annis
Je re my G e n t r y
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Soundings, Tuesday 5 p.m.
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Letters to the Editor policy
Ultimate cost of plastic convenience is far too high
it’s second nature. I’m so
In Lane County, our goal
used to it being there that was to recyle two-thirds
I don’t even think about
of our waste products by
how often — and in how
2025. We were making
many ways — I use elec-
great strides, leading the
tricity.
state in this campaign
The inclusion of plastic
The same can be said
by being the only county
in our lives has grown
for our use of plastic. Here in Oregon to send more
exponentially over the past are a few statistics to help waste to recyclers than we
70 years, making our lives illustrate the scope of
did to landfills.
easier, more convenient
how plastic has become a
However, recycling
and often providing a
second-nature element of restrictions in the Siuslaw
significant cost savings al- our lives:
region introduced last
most too good to be true.
However, as we have be-
From the Editor’s Desk
gun to realize, the ecologi-
Ned Hickson
cal interest rate on the cost
of convenience has come
due — with an unexpected
Worldwide, more than
January are jeopardizing
balloon payment.
500 billion plastic bags are the progress we’ve made as
We produce nearly 300
used each year, or more
a county, and ultimately as
million tons of plastic
than 1 million bags every
a society.
products each year, nearly minute.
While our dependence
half of which is designed
The average “working
on plastic is a global issue,
for single-use purposes in life” of a plastic bag is 15
the solutions will need to
what has increasingly be- minutes, after which it
be implemented one com-
come a disposable society. “retires.”
munity at a time, with the
And despite our efforts to
In 1996, 3.8 billion plas- first step in that process
educate the public about
tic water bottles were sold being education.
the importance of “Re-
in the U.S. By 2014, that
Before we can solve the
duce, Re-use and Recycle,” number had grown to 57.3 plastic problem, we need
each year more than 8
billion.
to fully understand its
million tons of plastic is
It’s no small irony that
scope and the ways it is in-
dumped into our oceans.
the process of producing
tertwined not only among
When we lose electricity a water bottle actually
those of us who use it, but
in our home, I still walk
requires six times as much how any changes we make
into every dark room and water as there is in the
could impact us econom-
flip the switch because
actual container itself.
ically.
In that spirit, Siuslaw
News once again part-
nered with City Lights
Cinemas yesterday as part
of the Siuslaw News’ free
Green Film series, which
targets important topics
through innovative films
and community discus-
sion.
Yesterday’s film was
“Divide in Concord,” a
feature-length documen-
tary that follows the story
of 84-year-old Concord,
Mass., resident Jean Hill,
who waged a seemingly
unwinnable battle to rid
her town of single-serve
plastic bottles of water.
Our hope is that the
Green Film Series presen-
tations and discussions
that follow will spur the
kind of community con-
versation that will lead to
solutions in dealing with
what we have embraced as
an element of everyday life
that seemed too good to
be true — and was.
The question is what we
can do — and are willing
to do — as individuals and
as a community to address
the true cost of conve-
nience.
The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to the editor as
part of a community discussion of issues on the local,
state and national level.
Emailed letters are preferred. Handwritten or typed
letters must be signed. All letters need to include full
name, address and phone number; only name and city
will be printed. Letters should be limited to about 300
words. Letters are subject to editing for length, gram-
mar and clarity. Publication of any letter is not guaran-
teed and depends on space available and the volume of
letters received.
Letters that are anonymous, libelous, argumentative,
sarcastic or contain accusations that are unsourced or
documented will not be published.
Letters containing poetry or from outside the Siuslaw
News readership area will only be published at the dis-
cretion of the editor.
Political/Election Letters:
Election-related letters must address pertinent or
timely issues of interest to our readers at-large.
Letters must 1) Not be a part of letter-writing cam-
paigns on behalf of (or by) candidates; 2) Ensure any
information about a candidate is accurate, fair and not
from second-hand knowledge or hearsay; and 3) Ex-
plain the reasons to support candidates based on per-
sonal experience and perspective rather than partisan-
ship and campaign-style rhetoric.
Candidates themselves may not use the letters to the
editor column to outline their views and platforms or to
ask for votes; this constitutes paid political advertising.
As with all letters and advertising content, the news-
paper, at the sole discretion of the publisher, general
manager and editor, reserves the right to reject any let-
ter that doesn’t follow the above criteria.
Emal letters to:
nhickson@thesiuslawnews.com
WHERE TO WRITE
Pres. Donald Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD Comments:
202-456-6213
www.whitehouse.gov
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, Ore. 97301-4047
Governor’s Citizens’ Rep.
Message Line:
503-378-4582
www.oregon.gov/gov
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
541-431-0229
www.wyden.senate.gov
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
FAX: 202-228-3997
541-465-6750
www.merkley.senate.gov
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio
(4th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416
541-269-2609
541-465-6732
www.defazio.house.gov
State Sen. Arnie Roblan
(Dist. 5)
900 Court St. NE - S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
FAX: 503-986-1080
Email: Sen.ArnieRoblan@
oregonlegislature.gov
State Rep. Caddy McKeown
(Dist. 9)
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email: rep.caddymckeown
@state.or.us
West Lane County
Commissioner
Jay Bozievich
125 E. Eighth St.
Eugene, OR 97401
541-682-4203
FAX: 541-682-4616
Email: Jay.Bozievich@
co.lane.or.us