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6- The Oakville Beaver, Friday April 4, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: (905) 632-4440 Circulation: 845-9742 Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: The Oakville Beaver is a division of IAN OLIVER Group Publisher Media Group Ltd. NEIL OLIVER Publisher DAVID HARVEY General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA ANCHOR Circ. Manager Sign of spring This week, we saw an indication that we may indeed actually have a spring season this year, despite Old Man Winter's best efforts to deprive us of one. Birds were in full voice, wind chill factors were non-existent and the mounds of snow piled everywhere disappeared quicker than the Maple Leafs' playoff hopes. However, we also were given a little demonstration of the dangers that spring brings -- specifically flooding. Up in Halton Hills, the rain caused a mini-landslide in which a substantial mound of earth gave way along an embankment and covered most of the road. Extreme flooding also led to the recent closures of roads in Milton and Halton Hills. In another sure sign of spring, Conservation Halton has issued a high water safety bulletin informing area residents that increased water levels and flows in most rivers and creeks could lead to localized flooding and that everyone should use extreme caution around bodies of water. This is not a warning to be taken lightly and is especially directed at adventurous children. Parents are reminded to instruct their kids to stay well back of stream banks as it could take only seconds for a tragedy to occur. In the next little while, enjoy the warmer temperatures and what spring has to offer, but be aware of the potential hazards as well. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. Time to ban the clothesline ban I am new to Oakville and really pleased with the way the town is getting `greener.' I was shocked when I arrived here last year and saw the size of the blue box for my recyclables. I was used to two separate 125-litre bins! However, I was even more shocked to find out it was against the law for me to put up a washing line in my backyard! How absurd is that! They say that by turning off the lights for just one hour, it's the equivalent of taking 48,000 cars off the road for an entire year. How many cars will it take off the road if no one uses their tumble dryer for the whole of June, July and August? I was privileged to be living in Sydney last year where Earth Hour began. Everyone I knew had a washing line, used re-useable bags, conserved water (they had no choice here) and recycled everything they could. I honestly thought Canada was far more advanced than they actually are. Can someone please tell me why I can not dry my clothes outside? I'm not even talking about the `old' washing lines that fill up your lawn so that you can't enjoy it. I mean something that you can put up and take down when your clothes are dry. You know you should try it. There's no better smell than freshly-washed clothes from a washing line! S. DEVINE BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com Accolades for Earth Hour What an amazing event. People in Oakville went to bat for the environment. Lights turned off at 8 p.m., people came out to walk, talk and enjoy the darkness. It was like being in the true North. Enjoyable. Thanks to Oakville and the rest of the GTA, we should be proud of our accomplishment. I hope the people who organized this event can make it a monthly event. What is one hour a month out of our busy lives to enjoy a hour of darkness? Nothing. But to the environment, our planet and the future of our kids kid, it's a huge event. Let's do it again and again. GLENN RITCHIE Let's hang ban out to dry Last Saturday, I attended a special concert, lit only by a few candles at St. Jude's Church to coincide with Earth Hour. The contribution of the Oakville Children's Choir was particularly memorable, not only for their singing, but also for their passionate appeals to the adults in the audience to "give them hope" by doing all we can to cut our carbon emissions, stop spoiling our environment through use of plastic bags and profligate use of water. I would like to appeal to Town Council to make it illegal to forbid householders to hang out their washing. Surely, it is far more important to save the considerable amount of electricity consumed by clothes dryers and use the free sun rays than have a "washing free environment." This is one way we can show our children that we are starting to act to make the very necessary changes to our lifestyle. JEAN GRIEVE The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council.The council is located at 80 Gould St.,Suite 206,Toronto,Ont.,M5B 2M7.Phone 416-340-1981.Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate.The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Pud