Mail Call

Lisa Towell

Los Altos, Calif.

As small-scale cattle farmers, we were not impressed with your idea to save the planet by forgoing meat once or twice a week. However, your suggestion of using cloth bags for groceries (which we do) will save more of our planet's resources than the nonmeat idea. And things like driving on properly inflated tires, driving less aggressively and removing unnecessary articles from your trunk will also save far more fuel than forgoing a juicy steak or pork chop.

Michael and Shirley Jones

Primghar, Iowa

I'd like to suggest an additional way to go green--consider a smaller house. Houses across the United States are getting bigger every year, while family sizes are getting smaller. Many people are unaware that building with construction materials such as wallboards, bricks, tiles, carpets, windows, doors and fixtures is a highly energy-intensive process. Smaller homes could be built with less energy and fewer raw materials and would require much less energy to heat and cool throughout the year. It is easy to live in a smaller home if you pay attention to household goods and rooms that are not used on a regular basis. Modifying our way of life is the easiest way to reduce energy usage and save the environment.