• Better diet can protect environment • Get with it, fix the roads • Removal from plane damaging Better diet can protect environment As thousands across the U.S. get ready to protest environmental budget cuts, each of us can also help with our
• Better diet can protect environment • Get with it, fix the roads • Removal from plane damaging
Better diet can protect environment
As thousands across the U.S. get ready to protest environmental budget cuts, each of us can also help with our driving, our recycling, and our diet. Yes, our diet.
A 2010 United Nations report blames animal agriculture for 70 percent of global freshwater use, 38 percent of land use, and 19 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.
Carbon dioxide is emitted by burning forests to create animal pastures and by fossil fuel combustion to operate farm machinery, trucks, factory farms, and slaughterhouses. The more damaging methane and nitrous oxide are released from digestive tracts of cattle and from animal waste cesspools, respectively.
Moreover, meat and dairy production dumps more animal waste, crop debris, fertilizers, pesticides, and other pollutants into our waterways than all other human activities combined. It is the driving force in wildlife habitat destruction.
In an environmentally sustainable world, meat and dairy products in our diet must be replaced by vegetables, fruits, and grains, just as fossil fuels are replaced by wind, solar, and other pollution-free energy sources. On this Earth Day and every day, let’s cherish our environment with eco-friendly plant-based eating. Our next trip to the supermarket is a great starting point.
Leo Gushiken, Lihue
Get with it, fix the roads
Aloha Mr. Mayor, Public Works Department and the County Council.
We just returned from a five-day trip to the big island of Hawaii. My friend rented a car and drove about 500 miles over state, county and city streets. And guess what? Not a pothole was found. It was a real pleasure not to have to concentrate on dodging the next hole and instead enjoy the driving and the scenery.
So, what is up with that ladies and gentlemen? If they can do it, why can’t we? We are the kingdom of Kauai and anything they can do, we can do better. Get with it boys and girls.
Paul Arrigo, Kapaa
Removal from plane damaging
To those who use terms such as “fantasy” and “dream come true” regarding the man forcibly removed from the United Flight: Have someone bust out your front teeth and break your nose, undergo reconstructive surgery on your face, and start wondering about the long-term effects of that concussion on your 69-year-old brain. Then ponder whether or not you’ve caught the brass ring or the brass knuckles.
Suzan Brooks, West Des Moines, Iowa
