Is Green a good thing?

I have lived in Austin for almost 7 years and I do consider it to be a very "go green" city. But how green is too green. The blogger of It's Called Texas brings up the bag ban that has recently swept over Austin. The author brings up many valid points on why this may not be in our best interest. For one, it is not very cost effective and we wont actually see the affects for 150 years. Also, the food contamintation is a huge concern for me. Granted I never remember to bring my bags and always end up buying new ones at the store. Some people do remember their bags but did they remember to wash them? Did they remember that they had chicken and pork in that bag just last week. Food Bourne illness is a very serious sickness. According to the CDC "it estimates that each year roughly 1 in 6 Americans (or 48 million people) gets sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die of foodborne diseases. That is a lot of people, granted not all of those people got food bourne illness due to reusing a paper or cloth bag. I also have to agree with the author of the pure inconvenience not only do I forget my bags but when I am going shopping to look around and find a few items I have to figure out a way to get them home or but another bag. No joke I probably have 50 bags behind my shelf. Recently, I went to Pflugerville to shop just so i could get bags without having to pay for them. Another flaw to the system is the paper bags are much taller and look very sturdy however they're not! I wish that grocery store employees would stop putting all my cans in one bag. I do not know how many time I have been carrying my groceries up the 3 flights of stairs to my apartment and the bag starts ripping due to weight! Its paper people not indestuctible! So after that rant I have to agree with the author I think the bag ban that turns out is voluntary is too far. I thought the author presented a great case and formulated an argument based on facts. Maybe there should be a reusable bag option which I could use when I am going to the store for a few small things. I just wish this project that cost so much money was a bit more thought out.

Near and Dear

Have you ever had a passion for something that could be destroyed by a vote? I have one. I have worked in a senior clinic for 2 and a half years providing better health to our local seniors. I love my job and I love seeing the smiling faces of patients who get to escape their house for a few minutes. Unfortunately, sometimes this is the only time the patient gets to leave their house. Sometimes they have to stay inside because of simple barriers. Though we cannot help everyone we can help many. We can help people who are bound to their homes by wheelchairs. How do we do this?

Texas has a wonderful program known as the Texas Ramp project where people from all over including churches, support groups, doctor offices volunteer their time to build wheelchairs ramps for people who could otherwise not afford it. These are done on Saturdays, all the supplies are donated all a person has to do is volunteer their time and muscles and they can build a ramp for someone and change their life forever. Personally it’s the best feeling in the world. When you see the person who was chosen for that project roll down their ramp for the first time it’s exhilarating. These people who had lost a sense of purpose and their quality of life had started to decline get to take it all back.

Now the real question comes to mind why would I take the time to write about something that is so perfect? Unfortunately there are people in this world that want to make projects like these a lot more difficult than they should be. I tried to research this in the news but sadly I only have the information that has been passed down to me from the people who have helped us volunteer. On Tuesday August 6, I had to sign a petition letter to get city council member to vote in favor of Resolution 60. This was to vote in favor of keeping the Texas Ramp Project alive in Austin. Failure to pass this resolution could result in hard time for Texas Ramp project. “The resolution would streamline code compliance for us and minimize or eliminate permitting costs. Failure of the measure would involve higher costs and impose design restrictions that would limit the number of ramps we can build” according to Dennis Mick of Texas Ramp Project. That was a quote from an email he sent us. To my understanding this means they want new building codes with stricter rules, meaning each ramp would have to be inspected by a certified person which would cost this volunteer service a lot more money and time.

I do not know yet what the verdict was on Resolution 60 I hope to know soon. I look forward to building many more ramps for these home restricted people. I can only put myself in their shoes or their family I would want my family member to still be able to get out and enjoy the wonderfulness Austin and all other Texas cities have to offer.

A discrete critique.

I titled my blog post a discrete critique because that's what it is. Honestly, when I read The Lonely Star of 1845 post from July 26, 2013 I have nothing bad to say. Though my stance on abortion is much different than Mrs. Wendy Davis how she stood up for herself is truly amazing. Mary did a great job at expressing the troubled life Wendy started out in. Yet she becomes a hugely successful business women and possibly the future of Texas.

I did a little research myself and found a point of view that Wendy Davis and I both agree on. Senator Davis believes providing an excellent public education system is the state’s most-important responsibility. According to Wendydavisforsenate.com. Wendy truly stands up for what she believes in and I feel the way Mary represented her in her blog was with the most upmost respect.

I look forward to hearing and seeing what Wendy Davis has in store for our beautiful state.

Thank you Mary for opening my eyes to a politician I had not paid much attention to.