Letters to the editor for March 2

More help for the homeless

In my opinion, there needs to be more places providing shelter for homeless people in Olympia, Tumwater, and Lacey.

At the St. Michael Catholic Parish’s men’s shelter, they provide a safe place to stay, warm food, showers, and sleeping. To do this more in our community, it would require volunteers who are willing to buy food, toiletries, and spare clothes and blankets.

Any facility at least the size of a basketball court with access to a kitchen could work as a men’s shelter. One example is school gyms.

I hope community leaders can make this dream a reality. Thank you.

Patrick Mendel, Tumwater

Bill to improve statewide recycling

Plastic: It’s everywhere, filling our landfills, polluting the environment, and inside our food. It takes centuries to decompose but is only used for a few minutes. We all know it’s an issue, but how can we address it? We’re often told it’s the consumer’s responsibility. After all, don’t businesses respond to customer demand?

I tried living waste-free for several years, and it’s difficult, to say the least. Everything we buy comes wrapped in plastic —rarely with any alternative. Even when you think you’re succeeding, there’s single-use plastic behind the scenes. How was your food delivered to the grocery store? How was your shirt shipped from factory to retailer? We can’t pressure companies to reduce plastic use if we’re neither aware of it nor given an alternative.

Luckily, there’s a solution: the WRAP Act. This bill would shift the responsibility of reducing plastic use from consumer to producer by taxing companies for their single-use plastic production, and incentivizing a transition to recyclables and less packaging via tax credits. This money would go towards improving recycling capabilities and access across Washington —only 58% of the state has recycling.

But wouldn’t this simply drive up the prices of plastic products? No. Several places have already passed legislation like the WRAP Act: the European Union, Canada, California, and Oregon, for example. The price of plastic products never increased.

If it can succeed elsewhere, it can succeed here. Call your state legislators and tell them to vote yes on the WRAP Act: Senate Bill 5154 and House Bill 1131.

Evan Butler, Olympia

Fair Repair Act would improve Washingtonians’ lives

Although legislative cutoffs have left many bills behind, one bill that is still advancing through the legislature would be a major win for the environment and Washington consumers: the Fair Repair Act (House Bill 1392). This bill would end manufacturer repair restrictions and ensure we have the Right to Repair our own electronic devices.

Electronics have become central to our ability to work, learn, and socialize, so a broken device is a big deal. But leading tech companies don’t allow consumers and independent repair shops to access the parts, tools, and information necessary to fix these devices, so consumers with broken devices often have to pay exorbitant repair fees to manufacturers or authorized repair providers, or give up and replace their fixable device. This system creates high prices for consumers, limits device accessibility for rural and lower-income Washingtonians, and creates environmentally-harmful e-waste.

The Fair Repair Act would require manufacturers to provide consumers and independent repair shops with the parts, tools, and information necessary to fix our own devices. This would make repair a more accessible and affordable option for all Washingtonians and break up our expensive and polluting throwaway model. Washington legislators should pass the Fair Repair Act to protect consumers and the planet.

Dax Tate, Seattle