Food for thought … before you clean out that pantry

As we fret about the inflation rate, it is a fact that we contribute to our growing cost of food by throwing away 30-40% of our entire U.S. food supply. That amounts to about 219 pounds of food per year per person. Think for a moment about that carbon footprint, from intensive farming to the transportation to our markets and finally to the landfill.

Then, try eating everything you buy. It’s not so easy, especially if you have scarcity-prone anxieties and lots of food in your pantry starting to exceed the safety product date. It is so much easier to point fingers at our government for our economic challenges than face the fact that each one of us contributes to our economic problems.

Let’s proudly take our reusable bags into the grocery store and save the ocean our crap. Let’s work with our utilities to save energy and money, and let’s talk about how we need consistent, clear industry regulations for our common safety. It just costs more when we don’t take care of what we have.

Tanya Travis, Grand Junction

Impulsive teens and readily available guns

Re: “Urgent response needed for youth gun violence,” Feb. 15 editorial

I want nothing more than to see Monday’s East High School shooting be this year’s final teen casualty. There is a lot of focus on mental health supports, which are crucial.

I think we are overlooking how impulsivity affects teenagers’ ability to make the right choice. I worked in Denver Public Schools for over 30 years and saw many impulsive acts. The thing that has changed now is easy access to guns. This plays out in the number of suicides and shootings.

Teen brains aren’t fully developed and that will never change. Strict gun laws and getting guns off the street are our best hope.

Jamie Lofaro, Lone Tree

Rave review for Colorado Ballet

Kudos to the Colorado Ballet dancers, orchestra, and guest performers for an exquisite production of “Lady of the Camellias” on Sunday. Every component of the performance was perfection, especially the work of guest pianist David Korevaar who gave life to the beautiful score composed by Frédéric Chopin. The house was not full (Super Bowl Sunday, after all), but those of us in attendance were treated to a mesmerizing experience. Thank you, Colorado Ballet.

Judy Maillis, Highlands Ranch

Artificial intelligence

AI: When we think we have all the answers.

David L Stevenson, Denver 

Know your road rules regarding school bus stops

I am an assistant on a school bus out of the North terminal for Jeffco. When we stop to pick students up, there is a stop sign on the side of the bus that comes out and flashers to alert drivers to stop because children are in the area. This sign comes out, and both directions of traffic are supposed to stop until the kids are loaded, and the bus driver deems it safe for other drivers to proceed. I don’t think the public understands this.

We have some very close calls quite often because drivers are in a hurry and don’t think they are doing anything wrong. It would be doing the children of Colorado a great service to run something explaining this.

They can kill a child if they don’t stop!

Here at North Transportation, we have cameras on all the buses so we can catch these people. Our drivers write up an incident report and send it to the Arvada Police. I am unsure if they issue tickets, but I believe drivers would take it more seriously if more attention were paid to the matter.

 Loni Byrne, Arvada