You can help the environment

Where is your commitment to the environment? The forests of the American South are being cut down at an alarming rate to meet the average American needs for fast food packaging.

In 2007, about 60 million plastic bottles a day went into the trash, or even more unfortunately became litter in our parks, rivers, lakes, and oceans. These billion of bottles take up valuable landfill space, leak toxic additives into the ground water and take 1,000 plus years to biodegrade, if ever, and waste 1.5 million barrels of oil to produce. That's not even including the oil used for transportation.

Filter your own tap water. Buy plastic bottles, or bags that are made from 100 percent corn, sugarcane, soy, or other renewable resources and they will decompose in 70 to 80 days. That makes them much more earth friendly, and they are completely benign, and leave no toxic or heavy metal residues in the soil. They even support plant life. If you happen to buy a plastic bottle, just remember to recycle it. Bring reusable bags from home when shopping.

Simple choices and creative solutions can reduce the excess and destruction while still allowing us to enjoy the level of convenience we have come to expect. Take the lead in the reform to save our forests, and our planet. Use your faith, courage, heart, and brains, and we can save the planet. There's no place like mother earth.

Chrisi Vineyard

Oswego