Inbox

[January 23rd, 2008]

Gray water and green living

As a board member of Tryon Life Community Farm, I must admit I’m very disappointed that WW would call TLC Farm a Rogue [Jan. 16] for pursuing more sustainable practices.

Gray-water reclamation is something that has been practiced successfully for decades in the U.S. Please read From Eco-Cities to Living Machines by Nancy Jack Todd and John Todd (1994). It showcases some incredible examples of successful gray-water recovery systems. Why not take a stand defending those who are trying, in good faith, to improve the system for everyone? Guess you’d rather defend the status quo.

Oso Martin
Via wweek.com

Tofu on the Tundra

Your Hotseat interview with Laura Ireland Moore [Jan. 9] left me thinking that there has to be some other idea of animal rights. I began to lose faith in Moore’s moral compass when she stated that she allowed her friends to spay the neighbor’s cat. If these acts were practiced upon a human, they would amount to some of the most egregious human rights crimes ever committed.

It’s also my belief that if Mrs. Moore were to live with the Inuit in the Arctic circle, she would be sucking the marrow out of whale bones in no time. One ounce of whale fat has five times the calories and 11 times the fat of tofu. If she were to be actively living in the Arctic, Mrs. Moore would need to consume roughly 4,500 calories a day, or 14 pounds of tofu. To make all that tofu she and others would eat, the U.S. would have to add to the 63 million acres of soy it currently grows. Imagine all of the creatures displaced during these fields’ formation and cultivation.

Next time an argument for animal rights seems to go too far, let’s stop and question what really is natural. Do animals eat other animals? Yes (carnivores)! Do other animals benefit at the expense of others? Yes (parasites)! Do animals rely on each other for survival? Yes (mutualists)! If one thing is to be universal between living things, it should be a respect for the natural world, and the complexities that it binds us with.

Ben Johnson
North Williams Avenue

Coming in from the Cold

I applaud your recent coverage of a homeless women’s winter shelter [“Shelter from the Storm,” Jan. 2]. Regarding winter-shelter spaces available, the spaces for women only are minimal. A ratio of 5 to 1 (158 spaces for men compared with 30 for women) demonstrates a misconception of male-dominated homelessness. If women need a space, most of the Portland area shelters require families only, or pregnant women and youths, but not women without children.

Optimistically, this transition shelter project will create more public and political awareness of the problem in our community, for a much needed, healthier environment for homeless women. A dangling carrot as an incentive to change, where at the end of their temporary stay, they will then move to a more permanent residence and constructive life-style. With the option of case management work, housing referrals and other assistance, this could be possible.

This increasing homeless number—32 percent women out of 2,000 nightly in Portland—could account for approximately 600 women needing help, without a permanent facility for winter shelter. The Portland City Council, through the Bureau of Housing and Community Development, is beginning a process of finding funding for a permanent facility. But there are not enough funds available at the present; it is in a “planning” stage of funding.

A healthier community for all individuals, including homeless women, will benefit the whole community by preventing alcohol and drug abuse, crime, and violence—all issues that affect a safer, healthier community for everyone.

Rosemary Bradford
Forest Grove