EVEN PEANUT BUTTER JARS ARE RECYCLABLE GO GREEN

On a recent visit to the grocery store, I noticed that most items in plastic tended to be either type 1 or 2 plastic. These plastics are used to contain a variety of things, such as motor oil, laundry detergent, peanut butter, kimchi, milk and juices. It stands to reason that most of the plastic bottles and jars that go into our landfills are of these types.

Types 1 and 2 are recyclable plastic, although not part of HI-5 and so aren't redeemable for cash by individuals. But many of our public schools collect recyclables as part of fundraising for school activities.

If a public school in your neighborhood collects type 1 and 2 plastics, drop them off in the collection bins. You'll keep more plastic out of our landfill and help public schools.

Plastics bags are also a problem and can also be recycled. Just take your plastic bags to the nearest Walmart, Kmart or Safeway and put them in the collection bins.

While recycling HI-5 cans and bottles does good for the environment and help individuals and businesses make money, the most commonly-used types of plastics can just as easily be kept out of our landfills.

FURLOUGHS

SCHOOL WORKERS SHOULD TAKE PAY CUT

If I read one more article or hear one more news interview stating that our keiki should be everybody's priority, I'm going to throw up. I'd like to know why pay cuts are never discussed in the negotiations between the state and HSTA. Every single person who works for the Department of Education should take a pay cut to fund the end of school furloughs instead of robbing the hurricane fund that belongs to all the citizens of Hawai'i.

Many folks in the public and private sectors have lost their jobs and are struggling to make ends meet. So if teachers are genuinely concerned about getting the keiki back in the classroom, then they should take a pay cut — at least they have jobs.

And make it a permanent pay cut, not one of these sweetheart deals like the legislators and University of Hawai'i professors received by taking a temporary pay cut only to get reimbursed in the future along with a substantial raise.

POLITICAL SIGNS

PUTTING THEM UP NOW IS FAR TOO EARLY

I was raised in East O'ahu and I recently returned to Honolulu after working in California for several years. The beauty and lifestyle in Honolulu were very welcoming compared to the crowds and frenetic lifestyle of Southern California.

However, recently I have become disturbed by the fact that a young man running for City Council has put up large campaign signs in my East O'ahu neighborhood seven months before election day. This blights the beauty of Honolulu.

I understand that our democratic system allows for political signs at a reasonable time before election day but please don't put up large political signs so early. If one candidate does, it invites his opponents to do it also, and we will inevitably have large political signs even a year or two years before election day.

This young man should not put political ambition ahead of respect for our beautiful Hawaiian 'aina. I politely ask this young politician to please take his political signs down.

PRECIOUS RESOURCE

WATER A GIFT THAT DOES NOT KEEP GIVING

I would like to thank Kailua Elementary for having the toilets fixed at E building. It seemed that every time I walked into the bathroom, two toilets were always running. Jiggling the handle was only a temporary fix. After complaining to several people and getting nowhere, I finally went to the principal. The toilets were fixed the next week.

I hate to imagine all the schools, public buildings, parks and businesses with dripping faucets, leaky sprinklers and running toilets, wasting thousands of gallons of clean drinking water when many people don't have access to sanitary water. Please help by doing all you can to stop water waste.

Many contribute to several charitable organizations that travel to remote villages all over the world, trying to find ways to provide people with drinkable water. If someone from any of those countries saw how much drinking water we waste each day, they would think we were crazy or extremely ignorant.

Clean water is a precious gift that does not keep on giving. Many think that one day there will be people fighting for clean water access. There already are countries fighting over water rights. We take for granted now what will be scarce in the future.

UNION STRUGGLE

HOTEL EMPLOYEES FINALLY GET JUSTICE

Finally, Pacific Beach Hotel workers are receiving some measure of justice after years of union-busting by their employer ("Hotel ordered to reinstate workers," March 30). I applaud the workers for their courageous struggle to improve their workplace, and the National Labor Relations Board for stepping in so workers can get back to work and back to the bargaining table.

The NLRB found the company illegally fired and coerced pro-union workers and shamefully avoided negotiating a contract with them for five years. Unfortunately, practices like this are all too common: 34 percent of employers fire workers during organizing campaigns. And anti-union companies often drag workers through lengthy negotiations by delaying bargaining sessions and putting forth bogus proposals.

That's why a strong and effective NLRB is so important. As it did in this case, the agency has the power to seek "injunctive relief," putting people back to on the job when it's clear their rights have been violated and making a very real difference in workers' lives.

Now that President Obama ended the paralysis of the agency at the national level through his appointments last week, the NLRB can tackle the backlog of critical cases before it — and better protect the rights of America's workers.

AD PLACEMENT

SEX AD SHOULDN'T BE IN SPORTS SECTION

Isn't there a better place to put a quarter-page ad with the title, "Sex. It''s never too late to learn something new," than right across from the Prep Sports section? (Sports section, March 31). I'm not sure selling "highly explicit" videos right by where lots of kids go to read is the wisest ad-placement decision.