To the moon, and Mars

Los Angeles area people drive enough miles daily to go from Earth to Mars. We go through some 20 billion disposable diapers annually — enough to stretch to the moon and back some seven times. Plasticized diapers have impacted our landfills since their invention in 1961. Cotton diapers, usually used about 100 times each, will break down in some one to six months.

In the USA, only about 10% of our toxic waste is disposed of properly. Over 7 million tons of trash is dumped into our world oceans yearly. That averages over 2 pounds of ocean garbage per humanoid per year.

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A little over a decade ago, world oceans had plastic floating garbage averaging about one piece per every 24 square feet of water surface. Ocean floating plastic is now averaging about one piece per every 7 square feet.

Americans each receive over 12 pounds of junk mail annually. We produce almost 6 pounds of garbage daily. Over the last generation, U.S. cities have lost more than half of their landfills.

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Styrofoam is a polystyrene foam made of the known carcinogen benzene. Its gasses are depleting Earth’s ozone layer, and it is deadly to most water life and birds. It is nonbiodegradable and can’t/won’t go away in landfills for over 500 years.

Please say goodbye to plastic diapers and Styrofoam. Say goodbye to single-use plastics. Say hello to biodegradable products, to recycling, and to keeping our Earth and its oceans healthy.

Earthlings are endeavoring to make it to the moon and Mars in the near future. We may have to.

Doc Philip (“Doctor Dandelion”)

Carbondale

HD57 forum Monday

On June 28, Democratic and unaffiliated voters will choose the Democratic candidate for State House District 57. Given that the district — made up of Garfield and Pitkin counties and the Roaring Fork corner of Eagle County — leans heavily Democratic, this primary will likely determine our next state representative.

Without a doubt, informed decision-making is fundamental in an election. And while we as candidates invest a lot of time and effort trying to reach as many families and households as possible, it is imperative that voters get several opportunities to learn and gauge where we stand on issues like education, water, housing and health care.

So far, the only public event scheduled for Democratic candidates to appear on the same stage is a forum at the Aspen Public Library this coming Monday, May 16, at 5 p.m.

This is simply not enough.

You, the residents of HD57, deserve to hear where my opponent and I agree and disagree. You deserve opportunities to ask us tough questions. You deserve opportunities to compare us in person on the same stage, not just learn about us from our websites. You deserve to see us outline and defend our respective visions for the future. Only then will you be able to see how we plan to represent everyone in our district.

So, if you are a member of your local chamber, your local Elks Lodge, or your local outdoor group, I urge you to hold candidate debates and forums.

I commit to appearing anywhere at any time before any audience, because I believe the residents of HD57 deserve to learn more about who is running to be your next state representative.

I hope my primary opponent will join me.

Cole Buerger, candidate for HD57

Glenwood Springs

Rock the primaries

Unaffiliated voters in Colorado just dodged a bullet. A group of Republicans recently filed a lawsuit (PARABLE vs. Griswold) in federal court to block us from voting in the upcoming Republican primary. The lawsuit was led by Ron Hanks, who is running for U.S. Senate. The lead attorney was former Trump attorney John Eastman. After numerous amicus briefs and hours of testimony, the judge dismissed the case.

Unaffiliated voters have had the right to vote in Colorado’s taxpayer funded primaries since 2017. However, the parties also have the right to opt out of the primary and, instead, hold an assembly where only party members choose their candidates. The Republican party voted overwhelmingly not to opt out of the 2022 primary.

The lawsuit alleged that the unaffiliated voting in the primaries is “party raiding.” Unaffiliated voters have nothing to do with selecting the candidates who are on the primary ballots. We are simply voting between those candidates who were chosen by the party.

Unaffiliated voters significantly outnumber both Republicans and Democrats in Colorado. Since December, the number of unaffiliated voters in District 3 has increased by over 9,500 and by almost 60,000 statewide, while both parties have actually lost voters. Our vote matters.

By voting in the Republican primary, we can help moderate Republican Don Coram to represent District 3 and send Lauren Boebert packin’ back to Shooters. We can also help keep (indicted) Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters off the ballot for Secretary of State.

Don’t forget Ron Hanks, U.S. Senate candidate who sued to block us from voting.

The federal court preserved the rights of Colorado’s unaffiliated to vote in the primaries. Let’s come out in force in June.

Brenda Freeburn (unaffiliated since 2017)

Gunnison