• ‘Girl Effect’ is better • Could grass become fuel? • Kauai is selling out
‘Girl Effect’ is better
Mr. Lima writes a very pessimistic letter about the future, but correctly notes that all agriculture is hugely destructive to the environment, regardless of whether it is organic or GMO.
Mr. Lima’s point is that agriculture driven by overpopulation will end us. Fortunately, there is real cause for hope. Girls who learn to read tend to choose to have fewer children, and the children they have tend to be healthier and survive to become productive adults. This is because mothers who can read food labels, medication labels and signs that indicate the well is contaminated, tend to have children who survive and who are healthier, smarter and more resilient.
Not only that, but mothers who read teach their children, both male and female, to read. The children grow up to be reading adults who make better informed decisions, more money at better jobs to support their smaller, thriving families.
This is called the “Girl Effect” and it is already changing the world’s demographics to a more sustainable pattern. If you are wondering where to put a part of your big, fat tax refund, consider donating to this worthy cause.
Much better than whining bitterly about the end of humanity.
Kurt Rutter
Kapaa
Could grass become fuel?
I had an idea I’d like to share which may be a way to generate energy for Kauai. I sent it also to KIUC. I got the idea months ago when I saw an article saying that the Cooperative was planning to cut down, chip and burn some Albezia trees to produce energy. I hated that idea but it got me thinking — what are two of the things people hate most about our beautiful Garden Island? The answer? Guinea grass and high electricity bills.
What if we could cut down this invasive weed, dry it and bind it together into a suitable configuration and burn that? I know this would take an initial investment to manufacture the needed machinery, but we would have an endless supply by harvesting from one end of the island to the other. By the time we got finished with one sweep, it would be time to start again.
This ugly weed robs us of many beautiful vistas that we could otherwise enjoy. So why not “turn lemons into lemonade,” as they say, and reap the benefits of a cheap, never-ending fuel source and pass on the savings to members? Go online and read more about “firelogs.” Maybe Duraflame, which I believe uses sawdust and paraffin in their compressed logs, might be able to give us some tips on the process or perhaps some engineering type out there has an idea.
Josephine Steciuk
Kalaheo
Kauai is selling out
The proposed dairy, another insult to Kauai’s aina. Cow’s milk is poison for human’s to drink, you’ve all just fallen for the propaganda, just as sugar is poison. GMOs are poison, along with the chemicals that go with them. The American diet has ruined the health of people around the world, yet otherwise intelligent people continue to die from not realizing this. Kauai is becoming the Sellout Island, give ‘em a buck and anything goes.
Our reefs are the secret to our tourist industry, yet here comes another reef-killing, ocean polluting, fly-ridden mess.
Wake up Kauai.
Joseph Metzger
Kalaheo
