Hello Moon and Mars
Los Angeles area people drive enough miles daily to go from Earth to Mars. We go through some 20 billion disposable diapers annually — enough to stretch to the moon and back some seven times. Plasticized diapers have impacted our landfills since their invention in 1961. Cotton diapers, usually used about 100 times each, will break down in some one to six months.
In the USA, only about 10% of our toxic waste is disposed of properly. Over 7 million tons of trash is dumped into our world’s oceans yearly. That averages over two pounds of ocean garbage per humanoid per year. A little over a decade ago, world oceans had plastic floating garbage averaging about one piece for every 24 square feet of water surface. Ocean floating plastic is now averaging about one piece for every seven square feet.
Americans each receive over 12 pounds of junk mail annually. We produce almost six pounds of garbage daily. Over the last generation, US cities have lost more than half of their landfills.
Styrofoam is a polystyrene foam made of the known carcinogen benzene. Its gasses are depleting Earth’s ozone layer and it is deadly to most water life and birds. It’s NON-biodegradable and can’t/won’t go away in landfills for over 500 years.
Please say goodbye to plastic diapers and Styrofoam. Say goodbye to single-use plastics. Say hello to biodegradable products, to recycling and to keeping our Earth and its oceans healthy.
Earthlings are endeavoring to make it to the moon and Mars in the near future. We may have to.
Doc Philip (Doctor Dandelion)
Carbondale
Distracted driving
April is CDOT’s Distracted Driving Awareness Month. Driving distracted is the LEADING cause of crashes. We’ve all witnessed drivers drifting lanes, texting, slurping or munching and not paying attention to the task at hand. Anyone have their own narrow miss? With tons of moving force under our control let’s stop taking chances. Pull over and take care of any needs when not moving. Let’s not become our own version (or someone else’s) of a really bad day.
Diane Reynolds
Take A Minute/Slow Down in Town
Yes on B
Glenwood Springs is a mountain oasis that we have chosen to be our home. I am grateful to see a community group working to protect it for generations to come: Glenwood Springs Citizens for Sensible Development (GSCSD).
To me, sensible means determining whether building a 300-unit housing complex on 16 acres is good for the community. For it to be sensible, I believe, it must provide really affordable housing, have effective evacuation routes and use smart building practices. The proposed project at 480 Donegan does not seem sensible to me.
As all of us know, our natural resources are limited. There is only so much land, air and water in this oasis we call home. We need to protect Glenwood Springs for our children and their children. I am glad that the GSCSD is here to bring attention to the many rental housing developments the city has approved in recent years and the risks that the 480 Donegan project brings to our oasis. I believe this grass-roots organization is giving us a collective voice to tell our city leaders what we believe is sensible for Glenwood Springs and for generations to come. I encourage everyone to check out their website: www.gscsd.org
I also encourage you to donate either your money (www.gscsd.org/donate) or your time (www.gscsd.org/get_involved). Funds will be used ahead of the May 3 ballot initiative and also future campaigns.
Be part of keeping Glenwood glorious! I have been a Glenwood girl since 1996 and don’t want to live anywhere except here in this oasis.
Vote yes on B!
Lori Welch
Glenwood Springs
No on The Fields
The Fields development is back and they are now proposing increasing the project size to 152 housing units on historically established agricultural land and a wildlife corridor, which is currently zoned rural residential, along Valley Road just west of Crown Mountain Park. The development would add, by CDOT’s estimate, over 1,000 more vehicle trips per day along Valley Road and at the El Jebel /Highway 82 intersection.
Are you tired of bumper-to-bumper traffic, unsafe traffic conditions, the El Jebel RFTA lot filling by 8:00 a.m. and a full City Market parking lot? Are you fed up with sprawl, light pollution and losing open space and agricultural land to excessive development?
Do you want Highway 82 to look like the I-70 Vail Valley corridor?
It’s important to act now and let your voice be heard! There is a combined sketch plan and preliminary subdivision plan meeting on Thursday, April 7 at 2:30 p.m. at the El Jebel Eagle Valley Community Center. This means, they are trying to push this through, without public input, at a one-and-done meeting.
The Fields developers are asking to build at the highest density allowable under Eagle County residential zoning classifications. They want to leapfrog three zoning density designations in order to maximize their yield and profits with no compelling public benefit. The approved Tree Farm development in Willits will add 340 units and 135,000 square feet of commercial space. According to CDOT, Highway 82 is the busiest rural highway in Colorado. The Tree Farm will add substantially to mid-Valley traffic and further stress our public transportation. The Fields developers should not be granted the zoning changes to allow 152 new units only 1.5 miles from the Tree Farm.
Join your fellow mid-Valley neighbors trying hard to protect the character of our Valley communities and quality of life. Insist on smart growth, not high-density sprawl!
Respectfully,
Concerned Valley Road Neighbors
Ukraine support
Tyranny comes in all shapes and forms. Seeing people lose their homes is personal.
History is happening before our eyes. Nations are built on stories.
Each day there are more stories that Ukrainians will retell in the dark days ahead and for generations to come.
The stories of Ukrainians’ courage and bravery gives resolve not only to Ukrainians, but to the whole world.
We can all be inspired to do something; whether to make a donation, welcome refugees or somehow help with the struggle.
The conflict in Ukraine will shape the future of our species. If tyranny and aggression are allowed to prevail, we will all suffer the consequences.
The Roaring Fork Valley is blessed. It’s time to stand tall. We need helmets, bulletproof vests and surveillance drones for the medical rescue teams in Kyiv.
Contact me at leemulcahyphd@gmail.com if you want to be a donor.
Lee Mulcahy
Basalt
Fractured Light
Sun hits the crystal
In my window, showering
Rainbows on my walls.
Jampa
Carbondale
Poem for Spring
Spring is in the air
New buds pushing out dead leaves
Soon to be new blooms
Janet Jesse
Glenwood Springs
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It takes community support to keep The Sopris Sun shining.
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