Consumers must use their voice

I have been impressed in recent months by The Herald’s editorials pertaining to the environment – most recently, “Companies must end wasteful over-packaging” (Thursday) and “Bush must show he’s serious about emissions (Friday).” As we are all becoming increasingly aware, global warming is a serious threat to our future, and it is important to take stock of the impact we have on our Earth.

As a mother of a child who just celebrated his third birthday, I know that one of the worst offenders in terms of over-packaging is the toy industry.

Sometimes it takes 30 minutes to free even small toys from a mass of tape, twist ties, card board and plastic. As consumers, we do have a voice. We can buy used toys, or choose toys with less packaging. And when we do so, we send our comments to the manufacturer.

Incidentally, I have also noticed that The Herald comes to our house wrapped in a plastic bag – even today, a sunny morning. Our newspaper is delivered to a covered porch which gets wet on only the wettest, windiest of days. It may be time for The Herald to examine its own packaging practices.

Lucia Fisher

Everett