I received a mass e-mail from Commissioner Sam Adams this morning, with information from this blog post on his site regarding a question of our times: "Paper or Plastic?". Grocery bags, cloth versus disposable diapers, how to put glass bottles in the yellow recycling bins, wasteful delivery of phone books - these are the policy questions that are the core sustainability issues for many Portlanders. They're not going to install a green roof on their home, or naturescape their yard. They'll get the bus if it's cheaper and/or more convenient, not on principle. Plastic or paper grocery bags? Check Sam's blog - 16 comments already, as I write.

I was raised in a culture where we walked with the wooden shopping basket to the grocery store, augmenting with cloth bags for overflow. But then twelve years of subsistence living warmed me to the concept of "free" stuff. "Refreshments served" meant dinner. Plastic over paper because plastic meant free trash can liners. Now, I bring home groceries in paper bags when I need them to put recycled paper and plastics at the curb, otherwise plastic bags which I store and deliver to William Temple House for use in their food distribution program. If everyone did that, they'd have way too many bags, but that seems the most helpful thing for me to do right now.

Of course, few material things are really free. "Complimentary overnight stay" means "Required high-pressure sales pitch taking most of your day". Both plastic and paper bags take resources as content and to manufacture - I'm particularly struck by

"14 plastic bags = 1 mile in gasoline"
in Sam's message. Moving to biodegradable plastic bags would improve the litter problem, but doesn't do much to reduce consumption.

I like the approach of sending e-mails inviting comments on a blog post which gives links to all sides of the issue. In my plan for public engagement if I'd been elected, something like this was one element. It will still involve only the self-selected folks who've signed up for Sam's e-mails and/or choose to visit his blog. There should be other ways for people to engage in civic discussions. Neighborhood Associations and other community groups should be specifically asked to review important questions as part of their face-to-face meeting agendas, and provide their opinions. There should be open public meetings at convenient locations away from downtown, where citizens could listen to presentations, chat, and give feedback. It would be good to see some bigger problems highlighted, challenges facing our city in particular rather than society in general. How to provide funding for sidewalks and crosswalks so people can walk safely instead of burning fuels in cars, for example. How to reduce littering in streets, parks, forests, and waterways. I believe Portlanders would come up with more solutions to more problems, if elected officials were to provide information on all sides of the issues, and promote community discussions looking for answers. Sam's question today is a start.