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OPINION It is virtually impossible to gauge what the result from Saturdays Earth Hour event will be. Certainly many Halton Hills residents joined in the now world-wide exercise in which lights were turned off for one hour between 8-9 p.m. But whats next? As an environmental awareness gesture it could be deemed a success in the fact that power consumption in Ontario dipped approxi- mately 5 per cent during Earth Hour (a more impressive 9.4 per cent in Halton Hills) a decent number for sure, but hardly astounding. Chris Winter, of the Conservation Council of Ontario, is correct when he says Earth Hour cant continue indefinitely as an awareness-rais- ing event. What we need in five years two years is to have evolved well beyond that kind of event to a well-co-ordinated program at the commu- nity level to help people make changes. That means lifestyle changes from getting people out of those gas-guzzling autos to using public transit or environmentally-friendlier vehicles, to curbing electricity use year-round to reducing our dependency on oil. In the meantime Earth Hour organizers also need to examine what went right and what did- nt this year. For starters, 8 p.m. was too early for Earth Hour, considering it wasnt dark until roughly 8:30 p.m. More participation, especially from the busi- ness community, is also crucial. This years Earth Hour was more a symbolic event than one that made a difference. In time, that must change. Earth Hour: Whats next Steve Nease LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Dear editor, Id like to ask that people learn to park in designated parking spots and not block driveways into parking lots. The other day I was driving on Main Street to turn right into the park- ing lot behind Youngs Pharmacy. Well I couldnt! And you may ask why? Because someone had dropped off a person who must have gone into the TD Bank and he stopped dead in the driveway to wait for their return. The person in the car ahead of me was waiting and thinking, like myself, that the person would now move on to one of the reserved for TD customers parking spots behind the bank. This did not happen. So we waited for the guy in the 4x4 to notice us and move forward as we were now block- ing traffic on Main heading west. Giving up, the person ahead of me had to go around the guy, using the outcoming lane to get into the park- ing lot, as did I. Now we had to hope no one was going to come at us as they might try to leave using the only lane the person had left any of us to use. Sir, there is ample parking behind the bank for the TD customers so there is no need to make those trying to park legally from having to go around you. And the door to the bank is real close to those spots. Even if you needed the special needs entrance, its back there too. I know the two spaces beside that bank are also for TD parking but due to us having had a lots of snow those two spots where unavailable. To make matters worse, none of the reserved for TD spots were in use. Sir, please try to be considerate of your fellow motorist. You know who you are, it was Wednesday (March 12) around 5 p.m. Thank you for your consideration next time. Debra Hayes, Georgetown Driver asked to be considerate of others Letters to the editor must include an address and daytime telephone number. Unsigned letters will not be published. Letters should not exceed 200 words and may be edited for content and/or length. E-mail: jmcghie@independentfreepress.com Mail or drop off: Independent & Free Press, 280 Guelph St., Unit 29, Georgetown, ON., L7G 4B1 Publisher Ken Nugent Advertising director Steve Foreman (sforeman@independentfreepress.com) Retail advertising manager Cindi Campbell (ccampbell@independentfreepress.com) Managing editor John McGhie (jmcghie@independentfreepress.com) Distribution manager Nancy Geissler (distribution@independentfreepress.com) ADVERTISING Advertising co-ordinator Jennifer Christie (jchristie@independentfreepress.com) Retail Sales: Jennifer Spencer (jspencer@independentfreepress.com) Katie Borg (kborg@independentfreepress.com) Brendan Louth (blouth@independentfreepress.com) Amy Sykes (features@independentfreepress.com) Andrea Lefebvre (alefebvre@independentfreepress.com) Real estate: Sue Spizziri (realestate@independentfreepress.com) Classifieds: Kristie Pells (classified@independentfreepress.com) ACCOUNTING Rose Marie Gauthier, Michelle McEachern EDITORIAL Cynthia Gamble: News editor (cgamble@independentfreepress.com) Ted Brown: Photography (tbrown@independentfreepress.com) Lisa Tallyn: Staff writer (ltallyn@independentfreepress.com) Eamonn Maher: Staff writer/sports (emaher@independentfreepress.com) PRODUCTION: Mary Lou Foreman, Kevin Powell, Shelli Harrison, Dolores Black, Debbie MacDougall STAFF DIRECTORY Send us a letter! Phone: 905-873-0301 Fax: 905-873-0398www.independentfreepress.com Something bugging you? What do you think? Below are the results of our most recent online poll. For the current poll go to www.independentfreepress.com As of April 7 Halton residents will have to use the new GreenCart disposal system to get rid of food waste. How do you feel about the GreenCart system? Its great for the environment and I will be happy to use it (58%) I understand the need for it but Im not happy about using it (15%) I will not use my GreenCart (27%) (*Note: This question will remain online until Tuesday, April 8) The Independent & Free Press is published Wednesday and Friday and is one of several Metroland Media Group Ltd. community newspapers. Editorial and advertising content of The Independent & Free Press is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. THE INDEPENDENT & FREE PRESS Dear editor, I am a parent who believes that the Halton District School Board should spend its limited financial resources building schools where families MOST need them which is Halton Hills (and Milton) for starters. It appears that the HDSB wants to build a brand new big school in southeast Oakville to replace the set of smaller schools. Ironically though, according to HDSB enrolment fig- ures, southeast Oakville has almost the perfect capacity for its student population: 1,688 students attending schools that offer capacity for 1,533 putting it only 10 per cent over capacity. Your five schools alone run at 40 per cent over capacity with one school running almost 65 per cent over capacity! If you believe that Halton Hills deserves the HDSB building dollars more than southeast Oakville, please ask your trustee to vote against building a brand new school in southeast Oakville. Your trustee will be voting on this topic sometime between May and June this year. Cat Allen, Oakville Board should build schools where they are needed Dear editor, On February 16, Chocolate & Roses a benefit concert was pre- formed by the Georgetown Choral Society. The event raised more than $4,300 to be donated to the Georgetown Hospital Volunteer Association. On behalf of the Association, we would like to extend our deepest gratitude to the Choral Society for choosing us as a benefi- ciary. The night was an incredible event, filled with extremely talented entertainment, while at the same time, supporting our local hospital. We also extend our gratitude to the many supporters of this event. Without your generous donations, the event would not have had the success it did. Together, you are helping us to make the Georgetown Hospital a bet- ter place for all of us. Ruth Pollous, President Kim Zangrilli, Director of Social Events Georgetown Hospital Volunteer Association Benefit concert a hit 6 Independent & Free Press, Wednesday, April 2, 2008