4A | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2019 | COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
Cottage Grove Sentinel
116 N. Sixth St.
Cottage Grove, Ore. 97424
NED HICKSON , MANAGING EDITOR |
Opinion
541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ CGSENTINEL . COM
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ongress shall make no law respect-
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prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or
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press, or the right of the people peaceably
to assemble, and to petition the Govern-
ment 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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LETTERS
Don’t dress in dark
clothes when walking,
riding bike at night
It appears that some people
have a death wish. I have no-
ticed during dark and twilight
hours a number of people wear-
ing dark clothes (and wearing a
hoodies no less) walking and/or
riding their bike around town
with no reflectors or lights.
If the people guilty of this
happen to get hit by a vehicle,
you can darn well bet the driver
of the vehicle will be at fault in
the person’s mind that was hit
and probably a lawsuit will be
filed against the driver.
Even if the driver wins the
case, they still lose because of
the trauma of the accident and
time spent fighting a frivolous
case.
A driver obeying the rules of
the road does not deserve to be
involved in any incident in such
a way.
—Dick Gilkison
Cottage Grove
HOW TO CONTACT YOUR REPS
Oregon state
representatives
• Sen. Floyd Prozanski
• Rep. Peter DeFazio
District 4 State Senator
PO Box 11511
Eugene, Ore. 97440
Phone: 541-342-2447
Email : sen.fl oydprozanski@
state.or.us
(House of Representatives)
405 East 8th Ave.
#2030
Eugene, Ore. 97401
Email: defazio.house.gov/
contact/email-peter
Phone: 541-465-6732
• Rep. Cedric Hayden
Tips for having an eco-friendly holiday season
(Editor’s Note: Viewpoint sub-
missions on this and other topics
are always welcome as part of our
goal to encourage community dis-
cussion and exchange of perspec-
tives.)
When I was a kid, my grand-
ma always gave me stamped, un-
finished pillowcases meant to be
cross-stitch embroidered and the
edges finished.
Every year.
I hated them.
But every year, I dutifully
smiled and thanked her for her
lovely gift. As soon as she was
gone, I gave them to my mom
and never saw them again.
(Mom didn’t finish them, either.)
According to the Environ-
mental Protection Agency, the
average person in the U.S. gen-
erates almost six pounds of trash
every day and the average has
been going up each year. Much
of the trash we generate is from
food waste and single-use items,
such as wrapping and greeting
cards. Most of this trash goes to
the landfill where it will sit for
decades.
Initial production of these
items, transport to the store and
hauling them away as trash gen-
erates costs — financial and en-
vironmental.
What if this year we saved
some money, time and the envi-
ronment? What if we gave more
thought to what we buy and what
we throw away? I’m not talking
about deprivation or no presents,
just a more thoughtful approach.
Staying organized — Use
your phone for shopping lists,
store coupons and keeping track
of your holiday season calendar.
Greeting cards — Have you
tried the ecards online? Com-
pose your message and give
them your contact list. Big chore
done! If that won’t work, there
are holiday postcards that use
less paper, don’t need envelopes
and save on postage. Also, cards
that you receive can be reused in
crafts next year like gift tags or
wrapping small items.
Stop catalogs & junk mail —
As you receive unwanted cata-
logs and junk mail, go to a free
online service like CatalogC-
hoice.org to get off these mailing
Guest Viewpoint
By Brenda Howard
Master Recycler
lists for the future.
Decorating — How about a
live tree from the nursery that
you can plant in your yard after
the holidays? Greenery and pine
cones collected from your neigh-
borhood?
Gifts — How about gifts for
fun experiences rather than
physical things? Gift certificates
for local restaurants and the-
aters?
Also, homemade coupons for
campouts, trips to outdoor des-
tinations, or washing their car?
Maybe some yard work or pet
sitting?
If you are crafty, homemade
gifts can be special. Packs filled
with rice and herbs to warm in
the microwave, homemade and
home-canned food, shopping
bags made from old T-shirts,
collections of family recipes, etc.
If purchasing items — Shop-
ping locally can save transport
and packaging costs and help the
community. Use your reusable
shopping bags!
Think how these ideas could
simplify your holiday shopping.
Save on shopping time, reduced
packaging, no breakage and
things not easily forgotten after
a few uses.
Gift wrap — Old maps, news-
papers, magazines from foreign
countries, homemade cloth bags,
cloth napkins from the thrift
store all make wonderful gift
wrap. Thrift shop pillowcases
make great gift bags for larger,
odd-shaped items.
Stocking stuffers — Reusable
produce bags, bamboo tooth-
brush, reusable bamboo eating
utensils, a reusable straw are just
a few options.
Hosting gatherings — If you
need more dishware than you
own for a large gathering, con-
sider taking advantage of the
Master Recycler Reusable Dish-
ware Program, which lends sil-
verware, dishes, table linens and
serving pieces for groups of up to
150.
Its free!
Reusing dishes and table lin-
ens, even taking washing into
account, uses far less energy
and resources than single use,
disposable items. Even com-
postable ones.
For info on the program, or
make a reservation, call 541-590-
0506.
Cooking & baking — Make
time to cook from scratch, buy
specialized cooking pans, small
appliances and table linens at
the thrift store or craigslist, send
leftovers home with your guests
and compost whatever is left.
I hope these suggestions bring
deeper meaning and thoughtful-
ness to your holidays, as well as
helping the environment — and
that you don’t give raw pillowcas-
es to your grandchildren unless
they actually enjoy cross-stitch!
Oregon federal
representatives
Republican District 7 State
Representative
900 Court St. NE
Salem, Ore. 97301
Phone: 503-986-1407
Website: www.leg.state.or.
us/hayden
Email: rep.cedrichayden@
state.or.us
• Sen. Ron Wyden
405 East 8th Ave., Suite
2020
Eugene, Ore. 97401
Email: wyden.senate.gov
Phone: (541) 431-0229
• Sen. Jeff Merkley
Email: merkley.senate.gov
Phone: 541-465-6750
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