Polk County Education
16A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • March 23, 2016
Youth robotics team tackles trash
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — Paper or plas-
tic?
A Dallas-based 4-H robot-
ics club, Dallas Xtreme
Team, wants people to con-
sider their choice carefully
— or better yet, BYOB (bring
your own bag).
The First Lego League
team has been toiling away
on it robots, but chose not to
compete in tournaments.
Instead, they have been fo-
cusing on the research proj-
ect each team is required to
select and complete.
The 2015-16 First Lego
League theme is “Trash
Trek,” asking teams to re-
search and propose innova-
tive solutions to deal with
the world’s trash.
The team members are
boys ages 9 to 12, and they
decided to take on plastic
bags, and plastic garbage in
general, as their project.
They were shocked by
what they discovered: cur-
rents have created plastic-
laden “garbage patches” in
the ocean and fish and ma-
rine birds are eating the tiny
particles, with consequences
for those species and hu-
mans.
“On Midway Island there
are these birds called alba-
tross, and they are struggling
to stay alive,” said team
member Micah Domes.
He said researchers have
found the birds dead.
“Scientists, when they go
and they cut open the dead
birds, they find garbage
sacks and (plastic) lids in-
side their stomach, and
that’s what kills them,”
Micah said.
Worse for the health of
humans, the boys found that
fish are eating tiny plastic
pieces, possibly increasing
their toxicity levels.
The answer, according to
the team?
Of the three R’s — reduce,
recycle, reuse — they decid-
ed it is most effective to re-
duce.
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
Half of the team members with assistant coach Kim Conolly, second from left, and coach Korri Miller, right, at practice on March 15.
To that end, the team
would like to get the Dallas
community’s opinion on the
question: Should Dallas ban
plastic bags?
“Corvallis has a plastic
bag ban,” said team coach
Korri Miller. “What would
that mean for our communi-
ty if we tried to affect a
change like that?”
The team has created a
four question survey to
gauge public support for re-
ducing the use of plastic
bags in Dallas.
The survey asks if people
would support a ban or re-
quire people to pay for use
of all bags, paper or plastic.
If the ban followed Corvallis’
example, it would exclude
bags used at pharmacies,
restaurants or delis.
“I think that we should
put a 5 cent (charge) on
plastic and paper bags or
offer cloth bags that are very
reusable,” said team mem-
ber Nathen Clay.
“Or people could bring
their own bags,” team mem-
ber Trey Darrington added.
The most important les-
son for the boys — and they
hope for others who look
into their project — is that
trash doesn’t just disappear
when you put it on the curb
for weekly pick up.
Kim Conolly, assistant
coach, said Dallas could be a
regional leader on the issue.
“I think we can all act dif-
ferently,” she said. “I think
communities around here
could look at Dallas, and like
Corvallis, we could set a
powerful example for Salem
or other communities.”
“We have produced this
trash and we need to be re-
sponsible to deal with it and
reduce it.”
Team conclusions:
• The world's largest
garbage patch is the
“Great Paciic Ocean
Garbage Patch.”
• Scientists believe 80
percent of marine plastic is
discarded from land.
• Plastic will never
biodegrade, but it does
photodegrade in water,
becoming tiny chunks of
garbage which ish eat.
People then eat those ish,
which may have elevated
toxin levels.
• Midway Island, in the
middle of the Paciic
Ocean, is home to the al-
batross. Even with no con-
tact with humans, thou-
sands may die each year
due to eating the plastic,
which loats in the ocean
that surrounds Midway Is-
land.
Plastic Bag Survey questions:
1. Are you concerned about the environmental hazards
of using plastic bags in today's world?
Yes, No or Other
2. When you shop, do you primarily use:
Paper, plastic, bring your own reusable bags or
other
3. If the City of Dallas were to reduce the use of single-
use plastic bags, would you be willing to pay 5 cents for
each bag you received if you did not bring your own?
Yes, No or Other
4. Would you approve of a single-use plastic bag ban in
the city of Dallas, similar to what the city of Corvallis adopt-
ed? This would not include restaurants, delis, pharmacies,
etc.
Yes, No or Other
Of note: Those interested in taking the survey can email
their responses to DallasXtremeTeam@yahoo.com or mail
them to Dallas Xtreme Team, 1693 James Howe Road, Dal-
las, OR 97338.
To take the survey online, go to: https://www.survey-
monkey.com/r/ZRYV86L.