MY REQUEST TODAY TO MY STATE SENATOR, SARAH ECKHARDT OF THE AUSTIN AREA, THAT SHE PLEASE SPONSOR A PROPOSED NEW LAW REQUIRING ALL MANUFACTURERS IN TEXAS TO DESIGNATE ON EACH PRODUCT WHETHER IT CAN BE RECYCLED---AND THAT THE SAME RECYCLABLE-STATUS SYMBOL BE USED FOR EACH AND EVERY PRODUCT MADE IN TEXAS

I am very hopeful that the following corrected-version of a brainstorming letter I wrote and sent tonight to my duly-elected State Senator, Senator Sarah Eckhardt of the Austin area, will help to promote greater uniformity in recyclable-status labeling on manufactured goods produced in Texas:

----- Forwarded Message ----- From: John McMillan <mcmillanj@att.net> To: State Senator Sarah Eckhardt 2020 <sarah.eckhardt@senate.texas.gov>; Joe Biden <info@joebiden.com>; Democratic National Committee <webmaster@democrats.org>; Texas Democratic Party <yellowdog@txdemocrats.org>; Traviscountydemocrats Info <info@traviscountydemocrats.org>; p139@traviscountydemocrats.org <p139@traviscountydemocrats.org>; Rep. Sheryl Cole 2019 CentralTX <sheryl.cole@house.texas.gov>; Travis County Commissioner Jeffrey Travillion 2017 <jeffrey.travillion@traviscountytx.gov>; District 4 <district4@austintexas.gov>; Austin Mayor Steve Adler <steve.adler@austintexas.gov>; CountyJudgeSam Biscoe <sam.biscoe@traviscountytx.gov>; david.escamilla@traviscountytx.gov <david.escamilla@traviscountytx.gov>; City of Austin City Attorney Anne Morgan <anne.morgan@austintexas.gov>; Austin City Council Member Ann Kitchen 2016 <district5@austintexas.gov>; District 7 <district7@austintexas.gov>; kpwatson@uh.edu <kpwatson@uh.edu>; daengster@uh.edu <daengster@uh.edu>; jgranato@uh.edu <jgranato@uh.edu>; Jacqueline L. Angel <jangel@austin.utexas.edu>; The New York Times <editorial@nytimes.com>; Austin American-Statesman Managing Editor John Bridges <jbridges@statesman.com>; WashingtonPostLettersEditor <letters@washpost.com>; NYT News Tips <nytnews@nytimes.com>; mdowd@nytimes.com <mdowd@nytimes.com>; Austin Chronicle Editors <mail@austinchronicle.com>; DMN Austin Bureau Reporter Robert Garrett <rtgarrett@dallasnews.com>; Houston Chronicle Letters to the Editor <viewpoints@chron.com>; Trinity University San Antonio Assoc. Prof. Political Science John Hermann <jhermann@trinity.edu>; Texas Tribune Editor in Chief Evan Smith <esmith@texastribune.org>; Texas Observer Editors <editors@texasobserver.org>; Rice Univ. Polit Sci Prof. Alford <jra@rice.edu>; Rice Univ. Polit. Sci. Prof. Brace <pbrace@rice.edu>; texaspolitics@mail.laits.utexas.edu <texaspolitics@mail.laits.utexas.edu>; Fort Worth Star-Telegram Newstips <newsroom@star-telegram.com>; Center for Science In the Public Interest <cspi@cspinet.org>; alumnimembership@umn.edu <alumnimembership@umn.edu>; Daily Texan Alumni Association 2016 <friendsofthetexan@gmail.com>; news@dailytexanonline.com <news@dailytexanonline.com>; Debbie Hiott <dhiott@kut.org>; news@tpr.org <news@tpr.org>; KLRU <info@klru.org>; KXAN TV News Investigations <reportit@kxan.com>; KEYE CBS News Austin 2017 <news@cbsaustin.com>; Council Member Flannigan <district6@austintexas.gov>; district9@austintexas.gov <district9@austintexas.gov>; District 1 <district1@austintexas.gov> Sent: Monday, October 19, 2020, 11:05:00 PM CDT Subject: 10-19-20 need for new law requiring uniformity/consistency in recyclable-status info on all products made in Texas October 19, 2020 Dear Senator Eckhardt, As you continue to work very hard to develop your public-policy agenda for legislative proposals you plan to offer to the Texas Legislature in 2021, I would like to offer you an additional recommendation. I am hopeful you will be willing to help author or sponsor or co-sponsor a proposed new state law that requires that any and all products manufactured or produced in Texas must contain the same easy-to-interpret symbol on the package or container which indicates whether that package or container can, in fact, be recycled. The letter "R" with arrows swirling around the "R", and the explanatory text "recyclable" or "partly-recyclable" printed under the "R" , might provide that clarity of communication to most Texan consumers----particularly if it were accompanied by State of Texas-sponsored public-service announcements on television that clarify to the general public what the "R" on packages or containers means. It would also be helpful if the proposed new state law could require that if a package or container for a product manufactured in Texas cannot be recycled, there should be a slash or strike-out through the "R," followed by the two-word statement "not recyclable" printed under the "R". I need to add that upon further reflection, I sense that possibly some consumers in Texas who have watched lots of Hollywood movies might misinterpret the letter "R" on a product as possibly signifying that the product is not suitable for children. So possibly the letters "RE" if surrounded by swirling arrows on all sides of that term, might be more successful at conveying the "recyclable" designation to consumers. I maintain that current uncertainty by consumers in Texas in regard to the recyclability of any given package or container for a product they had purchased, plays a major role in a significant percentage of recyclable items in Texas being tossed into a trash can and ending up at a public landfill as trash items. At present, I often find it very confusing when I attempt to figure out whether any given package or container for a product I had purchased in a retail store in Austin can, in fact, be recycled. One example of this: I spent several minutes this evening attempting to determine whether the bag of "Off the Eaten Path" chickpea veggie crisps I had purchased earlier today at a retail store in northeast Austin could itself be recycled. Nowhere on the entire front or entire back side of the bag could I find that factual information. "Off the Eaten Path" (registered trademark) "chickpea veggie crisps(:) Rice, Chickpeas, Peas, Black Beans", are "manufactured for" Rare Fare Foods, LLC, Purchase, New York, 10577. All the information contained on the packaging for the cited product bears the copyright date of 2017. The absence of any answer to the "Is it Recyclable?" question on either the front or back side of the bag for that food product undermines the manufacturer's conveyed statements about being very enlightened, healthful-living-minded, and consumer-friendly. Those other types of factual information, such as "MADE WITH REAL PURPLE SWEET POTATO", "MADE WITH REAL VEGGIES", "GLUTEN FREE", and "NO ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS OR PRESERVATIVES", were diligently provided by the manufacturer on the front or back side of the bag. Senator Eckhardt, I would also like to point out that the wide array of symbols currently used by manufacturers to designate whether a product is recyclable adds to the confusion by consumers. It is likely that some or several of those current symbols for "recyclable" are not being identified by each and every consumer as actually stating that a product fits that description. One apparently-copyrighted online blog (below) I found tonight documents the current lack of uniformity on recyclable symbols, though this apparently was not the intent of the blog author. This blog cites at least seven different types of symbols for recyclable packages or containers or products that are currently being used by manufacturers. https://www.thespruce.com/recycling-symbols-made-easy... Senator Eckhardt, I would also like to also request that you please consider asking a Texan member of the United States Congress to possibly propose legislation of this type at the federal level. That would greatly simplify efforts at the state level to promote greater consistency and uniformity in recyclable-status descriptive information on manufactured goods being sold in stores.

I hope this very tentative brainstorming letter on behalf my still-one-approved-member (myself) and non-Christian factually-minded "Progressive Prohibitionist Religion" proves to be helpful to you. Best Wishes to you in the upcoming Legislative Session that begins in January 2021. Sincerely, John Kevin McMillan, founder and only current approved member of the quality-of-life-minded and environmental-protection-focused Progressive Prohibitionist Religion. My always-fully-locked solo-occupancy (myself, only) efficiency apartment-unit rental-home address ever since June 21, 2019: Pebble Creek Apartments, 8805 North Plaza Drive, Apt. 2418, Bldg. 17, Austin, TX 78753. Home phone: (512) 342-2295. Cell phone: (512) 993-7305. My Blog: John Kevin McMillan: A 21st Century Conservative Left-Wing Agenda John Kevin McMillan: A 21st Century Conservative Left-Wing Agenda Observations for a rationally religious and implicitly deistic modern religion, public-policy writing, creative ...