I prepared some documents to explain why metrication is a newsworthy issue, and how to convert. I figure some of you might be able to use them or some of the ideas. I haven't tried sending attachments to the list yet, so we will see how it goes.
I think a lot people in the US think that metrication is a dead issue, and the document explains why it isn't. I contacted my school newspaper about running an article during National Metric Week and gave them this information (and more). A reporter actually wrote an article, but they didn't print it. They usually write articles about the football games and dating, and run AP articles for anything of broader significance. The other document attempts to address what I see as a major problem with perception of the metric system. People think learning the metric system is hard because they try to understand metric units in the mental framework of the old units. You can't understand Celsius if you try to think in Fahrenheit! The material was written for a local audience, so I include references to Provo, where I live. Carl
How to learn the metric system
Often people will say that the metric system is difficult or hard to learn. Sometimes they just say they don't understand it. The metric system is not hard to learn—most people just try to learn it the hard way.
The best and easiest way to learn the metric system is to forget about the colloquial units. Obviously, this is not always possible in the United States, but it is much more difficult to convert between the systems than it is to simply learn some new reference points in metric. For example, I weigh 59 kg. Now I know how much that is (not much). I may not be able to say how many pounds that is, but things are a lot less confusing if I just don't worry about it. It is 22 degrees Celsius in this room. By thinking of the number and how the air feels on my skin, I now know what 22 degrees feels like—I don't care what it is in Fahrenheit.
The main impediments to metrication are an emotional attachment to the old units of measure and apathy. There can be costs associated with metrication, but that is not generally why people don't convert.
Some metric reference points
Learning metric really only requires a few reference points and a way to use them in every-day life. To help me use metric units in everyday life, I have a Celsius thermometer, a kilogram scale, a liter water bottle, several meter sticks, and a metric odometer and speedometer on my bike. The first three are available at Walmart, the meter sticks are available online from Office Depot, and you can get a bike computer at any bike shop.
Temperature
To understand Celsius temperatures just remember:
Thirty's warm,
Twenty's nice,
Ten's cold,
Zero's ice.
That is really all you need to know most of the time, except perhaps the boiling point of water (100 �C) and body temperature (37 �C).
Weight
To understand body weight in kilograms, it is best to get a scale (or change the setting on yours if you can). These can be some reference points:
| New-born baby | 2.2 - 4.5 kg |
| Light-weight adult | 55 - 75 kg |
| Medium-weight adult | 70 - 100 kg |
| Really big football player | 140 kg |
Height
To understand a person's height in centimeters, it is best to tape a meter stick to the wall so you and others can measure the height directly. These can be some reference points:
| New-born baby (length) | 50 cm |
| Average man (18 yrs. old) | 177 cm (90% are between 167 and 185 cm) |
| Average woman (18 yrs. old) | 164 cm (90% are between 156 and 171 cm) |
| Tall basketball player | 200 cm (2 meters) |
Small volumes and weights
When you go to the grocery store, instead of looking at the ounces or fluid ounces on the label, pay attention to the milliliters (mL), liters (L), grams (g), and kilograms (kg). If you have a water bottle that is either 500 mL or 1 L, you now know how much those quantities are. The two liter soft-drink bottle can also serve as a reference point. If you have a box of cereal that weighs 425 g, you now have an idea how much that is.
Long distances
It is kind of hard to really use kilometers a lot when you drive in the U.S., but here it is anyway:
| Campus Plaza to University Blvd. | 1000 meters (1 km) |
| Campus Plaza to Movies 8 | 3.7 km |
| Campus Plaza to Walmart (Orem) | 8 km |
| Provo to Lehi | 25 km |
| Provo to SLC | 70 km |
| Provo to Manti | 150 km |
| Provo to Pocatello | 335 km |
| Provo to St. George | 415 km |
| Provo to Las Vegas | 600 km |
| Provo to Boise | 615 km |
| Provo to L.A. | 1000 km |
Area
The metric system does not include the acre, which is 43,560 square feet. To specify area, use square meters (m2), hectares (ha), or square kilometers (km2). A hectare is much more fun to use than an acre. A hectare is the area of a square 100 m on a side, which means it is 10,000 m2. There are 100 ha in one km2. A hectare covers a little less than two and a half football fields.
Incidentally, with the metric system it is easy for farmers and others to figure out how much water covers how much area. For example, one liter of water covers one square meter to a depth of one millimeter. So, 10 cm of water over 1 m2 is 100 L. Likewise, 1 mm of water over 1 ha equals 10,000 L, and 1 mm of water over 1 km2 equals 1 million liters. Try doing that with acre-feet, gallons, square miles, inches, and fractions of inches.
For more information on metrication, see the website of the U.S. Metric Association.
Why metrication is a newsworthy issue
There seems to be the general impression in the United States that the metric system was something that they tried years ago and it didn't stick. In reality, metrication is an important issue that has stayed out of public view while significant changes have been taking place. Metrication is pretty much inevitable as the world becomes more global and as the metric system becomes more and more entrenched in engineering, business, and everyday life in countries everywhere.
What has been happening
There was a push to convert the United States back in the 1970's. Similar programs were quite successful in many countries (such as Australia), but in the United States the effort was derailed by a lack of commitment. Since that time, metrication has been occurring at a slow pace. Many of our industries and corporations have been converting and often use metric. These include the automotive industry, electronics companies, and companies such as Kodak. Most recently, consumer products have started appearing in metric sizes (such as some shampoo, mouthwash, bottled drinks, etc.). Over the past few decades, while we have been making slow progress in conversion, countries around the world have been developing their economies and solidifying their use of the metric system.
Where we are now
The attitude of many in America has been that others should just deal with our measurement system. However, 95% of the world now lives in countries that are entirely or mostly metric.1 We simply are not able to impose our system on the rest of the world. Many other countries are recognizing this and they are taking steps to enforce metric usage in trade because metric units are the accepted international standards. Many of our trading partners require or soon will require all imports of commodities to be labeled in metric units only.
For example, it is against the law for a company to import a soft-drink bottle into Korea if it is labeled "20 FL OZ (591 mL)".2 It would be filled to 600 mL and be labeled in milliliters, no ounces allowed. Similar laws will apply in the European Union within a few years. Thus, a global soft-drink manufacturer needs two different product lines (with different product sizes) to maintain the U.S. measures in the United States. Some trade groups have complained that these laws are protectionist measures, but they simply require that the accepted standards be followed. U.S. companies are not penalized if they just comply. For this reason, many large U.S. companies have already converted their products to metric sizes, and many more will do so in the near future.
What happens next
In order to help our companies produce goods for a world market, some groups (including Proctor & Gamble) are suggesting that we change U.S. law to allow metric-only labels on consumer goods. This means that customers will be seeing more and more metric when they go to the grocery store. This is simply an inevitable result of having a global economy.
Next year, proposed legislation to allow metric-only labeling will be submitted to Congress. After that, a few states will need to change their labeling laws as well, and then liters, milliliters, grams, and kilograms can be the only units on labels. While this is unlikely to cause significant confusion among customers, it shows that metrication is far from a dead issue—it is an issue that Americans will be forced to confront. Americans ought to know that metric is here. Fair and informative media coverage would help ease the transition that is accelerating.
Every year the week that contains October 10 is National Metric Week. This could be a good time to run an article to inform your readers about national and international issues that will affect them in the future.
For more information on metrication, see the website of the U.S. Metric Association.
Sources:
1. The U.S. population is less than 5% of the world population. All other non-metric countries or regions put together are much smaller than the U.S.
2. Metric Today, March-April 2002, page 4.
