The Air We Breath

I have travelled extensively overseas, and I'm always glad to come back to Kamloops. One time I was visiting after being away for almost four years and I started crying. It was snowing and quiet. I didn't think after being overseas for four years that there could be anything so beautiful. Now many of the places I've been to are filthy dirty. I spent a lot of time in Tsuchiura, Japan, a town north of Tokyo. I loved it as it reminded me a lot of Kamloops. Tsuchiura is located on the second largest lake in Japan. I also spent a lot of time around that lake. In the summer, it was impossible to walk by the lake without covering your mouth and nose. I wasn't the only one who couldn't stand the smell. Because of the heat, an algae rose from the bottom of the lake. This algae was the cause of the this horrible suffocating smell.

So what does this have to do with Kamloops?

Recently, the air is cloudy and smelly. Is this really cloud? Or is it pollution? This is much like what I saw in Japan. Our sunsets, while brilliant, are often like that because of the air quality. The sunsets in Japan were of the same quality. What's next? Our rivers? We rely on the Thompson River for everything...our recreation, our water...If the river isn't already affected, I'm afraid that it is next. If our rivers become the same as that poor lake in Japan, we are seriously compromising our quality of life. Do we really want to live in the environmental conditions that exist in Asia and many countries around the world? Now is the time to start taking care of our earth, our environment. What kind of home do we want in our future? What legacy are we leaving for the next generation?

The City of Kamloops and various businesses around town need to start taking some responsibility. As of right now, Earth is the only place where we can live, so it is time to clean up and take some responsibility not only for our house but also for our home, Earth.

Dining Out

Recently, I saw a feature on a new way to get food and eat. These young people were going into dumpsters and getting food that had been thrown out. They were finding food that hadn't been open and had only been expired for just a very short time. They worked together and created meals with what they had found. I had the impression that they also found vegetables, washed and ate them. This style of eating is not for everyone. However, perhaps it will make us think twice about throwing out unopened food just around the expiry date. Perhaps we should also consider that rather than opening the package and only eating a little bit we should just throw out the whole thing and let the dumpster divers have it. For those who might consider trying this new style of dining, you would certainly save money, cut down on the amount of garbage going out and definitely cut down on overall consumerism.