George,

When I went out to lunch today, the restaurant had stopped serving fountain drinks. Instead, they sold soft drinks in a bottle at a higher price than the fountain drink. Who says that they are losing money? $1 a bottle for water, what kind of water are they selling? You can go the Sam's and get itcheaper. Should the restaurants use yet another way to make a bigger profit?

And another thing, when I went to recycle my plastic bottle, there was not place to recycle it. Their excuse is that the city does not recycle plastic. I pointed out that the facility at McIntire does. They told me that they did not want to bother with it. Maybe the city should offer to pick up plastic during this time of drought. We are trying to find solutions to one problem (the drought) only to create another (too much trash at the landfill).

Another thing about this drought. Where are the car washes getting their non-restricted water? Obviously someone is selling their well water. Everyone should be cautious of how much water they use, whether it is restricted or not. We should all boycott car washes!

One day people will realize that water is a precious commodity and we should not abuse it as we do. Maybe people will now start acting responsively when they use water.

What do you think?

Melanie Farland (electronic mail, October 3, 2002)