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WATER SMARTS
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The SFR Sept. 27 article,
"We Know What You Did Last Summer,"
focused on high water users in Santa Fe. Due to our environment, water consumption is an issue for everyone who calls Santa Fe home.
Homewise offers a water conservation program, Watersmart, featuring five ways to save water in your home: purchase low-flow dishwashers and front-loading clothes washers; retrofit/replace faucets, showerheads and toilets to low-flow; install on-demand
hot water pumps; use exterior water catchment with rain barrels, cisterns and drip irrigation; and detect and repair existing water leaks. After a visit to your home, a plan is developed for your residence suggesting ways to increase water savings. For example, most top-loading washing machines use 40 gallons per load; a front-loading washer saves up to 20 gallons per load-this is a 50 percent water savings with the simple change of appliance type.
Offering below-retail pricing on low-flow appliances, a list of licensed and insured contractors who specialize in water conservation projects, construction management and low 4 percent fixed financing, Watersmart helps homeowners save a precious community resource.
Watersmart has retrofitted more than 100 residences in Santa Fe, saving more than 1 million gallons of water annually through these retrofits. Water conservation can be easy and affordable.
Call 983-WISE (9473) and begin to save water today!
Jody Lee
Homewise Watersmart Manager
Santa Fe
TIGHTEN UP
I moved to Santa Fe from Tucson in June and am familiar with the serious short- and long-term water availability problems in the Southwest. I have two observations concerning the recent article.
First, the surcharges are fine as far as they go. However, once someone uses above some multiple of the average household use (for example, five times), their water should be cut off for the balance of the month.
Second, any local politician repeatedly using more water than the average household ought to be ineligible for re-election.
Adopting these two policies would eliminate the need for articles such as the one to which I am responding, the practices of scofflaws such as those identified in your article and politicians who feel as though the rules were made for everyone but them.
Thomas E Carr
Santa Fe
FREEDOM FIGHTER
My jaw dropped to the floor when I read Jack Nixon's letter [Letters, Sept. 20:
]…this letter was so ridiculous, I'm still not certain whether or not it was meant as a joke. I found the following statement particularly interesting: "We fight an enemy who all-too-knowingly exploits our greatest vulnerability-our reluctance to reassess outmoded notions of freedom in time of war." Perhaps Mr. Nixon finds the CONSTITUTION, the very basis of governance in our nation, an "outmoded notion," but I think (and certainly hope) he lands in the "wingnut fringe minority" category here.
Remember George W Bush castigating terrorists as "enemies of freedom"? From the above statement, and the rest of the text of his letter, it seems that Jack Nixon is a true-blue "enemy of freedom" if ever there was one. When he trashes our fundamental freedoms as "outdated notions," he is truly the one who is, in his words, "playing into the hands of the enemy." Or perhaps the "enemies of freedom" argument is the one place where he diverges from right-wingnut-neocon orthodoxy.
In any case, since you hate our freedom so much, Jack, perhaps you could move to a place more to your liking-like North Korea. No "outmoded notions of freedom in time of war" there, I'll guarantee it. To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, those who would compromise liberty in the name of security will have, and deserve, neither. If we are so scared as to turn the US into Jack Nixon's police state, the terrorists have already won the war. They couldn't hope for a greater victory than that. After all, "they hate our freedom," don't they?
Andy Hopkins
Santa Fe
A BROADER FOCUS
"Will booting junk food out of the schools keep kids from getting fat?" [Cover story, Sept. 20:
] suggests that the simple removal of "junk food" from schools will curb childhood obesity. We know, however, that "calories in" is simply one part of the equation. Reducing overweight and obesity among our youth must focus on teaching them the importance of living a healthy and balanced lifestyle-one that includes eating a variety of foods and beverages in moderation as well as regular physical activity.
Earlier this year, the American Beverage Association teamed up with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation to develop new School Beverage Guidelines as part of a broader effort to teach children the importance of balanced diet and exercise. These guidelines remove full-calorie soft drinks from schools and provide students with a broad range of lower-calorie, nutritious, smaller-portion beverage choices. Students will be able to choose from a variety of beverage choices, which, depending on school level, may include bottled water, low-fat and nonfat regular and flavored milk, 100 percent juice with no added sweeteners, light juices, sports drinks and no- or low-calorie beverages.
These guidelines were acknowledged in the recently released Institute of Medicine report on childhood obesity. This same report also focuses on the importance of the "calories out" part of the equation-the need for increased physical activity.
And, while some critics claim that soft drink consumption is leading to decreased calcium intake among adolescents, research shows that soft drinks are not the problem. Research conducted at Georgetown University, Michigan State University and Virginia Tech shows that soft drinks are not displacing milk and calcium in the diet of children and adolescents. In fact, the beverage industry provides a variety of calcium-fortified beverage products-including in schools-that can help all consumers incorporate more calcium into their diets.
The beverage industry provides an array of beverages-all of which can fit into a healthy and active lifestyle. We are clearly committed to doing our part for school wellness and are providing strong leadership with the School Beverage Guidelines.
Kevin Keane
Senior Vice President
American Beverage Association
Washington, DC
The Reporter welcomes original, signed letters to the editor. Letters (no more than 200 words) should refer to specific articles in the Reporter. They may be edited for clarity and space. Please include address and phone number for verification purposes; these will not be published.
