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Social Articles
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Summer is Fire Season
By Lance Winslow
Eco Bags I fully support the notion of reusing the same shopping bags for groceries. Week in and week out people fill up their supermarket trolleys and then proceed to pack the items they have bought into plastic bags at the checkout, once they have been paid for. The majority of these plastic bags only make two trips in their lifetime. One is to the supermarket from the suppliers and the other is to the customer`s home where they tend to end their life prematurely in the bin. If Eco Bags were used instead they could make hundreds of trips in their lifetime. The bags could be left ion the boot of the car after they have been unpacked ready to be used at the next grocery shop. All it takes is a little thought and a slight change of routine and the Eco Bags could become regular features down at the supermarket. Concerns about the effect that plastic bags have on the planet should be enough to prick the conscious of people`s minds. If more and more people started to use the Eco Bags when they went shopping, at least this would be one way that the planet could be looked after.
http://www.lancewinslow.org/arsonwatch.pdf Here is some background on the recent information you may have been reading in your local newspapers last summer and reason you will be reading more as this fire season approaches. One large fire may take half of an areas fresh water to fight. Compounded with the already dry climate conditions we are already seeing. We have drought issues in our country and they are not easing. In Tucson Arizona utility companies are returning ground water and gray water to the rivers leading to aquifers to replenish the underground water for the cities wells. This should take care of the curbing of over pumping of groundwater. Much of which feeds the Tucson golf courses and is necessary for a stable economy. Fallon, Nevada, the Navy has cleaned up ground water and aviation fuel tank leaks, which might have hurt the ground water tables so much of that ground water may not be available for consumption. California Bay-Delta water supply is in trouble this year as droughts are expected along with a strong fire season. Last summer we saw drought restrictions on car washes in many states and we will continue to see more problems in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Arizona, California and it will be a very big deal, one which not everyone seems to be prepared for. We are finding this drought situation is very wide spread compounded with an inadequate distribution problem. This should be our primary focus moving into the next two years with regards to environmental issues and water supply. Water supply and droughts coupled with the potentially problematic 2005 fire season is something we could be facing soon. We need to plan ahead, stop the fires we can using a defensive network before they occur, while simultaneously conserving water, building better retention basins and getting ready for the big ones if they get away from us. Think about winning the war on droughts and fires. 
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