durahregion.com This Week Thursday, April 21, 2022 | 10 ABOUT US This newspaper, published every Thursday, is a division of the Metroland Media Group Ltd., a whollyowned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. The Metroland family of newspapers is comprised of more than 70 community publications across Ontario. This newspaper is a member of the National NewsMedia Council. Complainants are urged to bring their concerns to the attention of the newspaper and, if not satisfied, write The National NewsMedia Council, Suite 200, 890 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4W 2H2. Phone: 416-340-1981 Web: www.mediacouncil.ca newsroom@durhamregion.com facebook.com/newsdurham @newsdurham WHO WE ARE Vice President Dana Robbins Regional General Manager Anne Beswick Director of Content Lee Ann Waterman Managing Editor Mike Lacey Director of Advertising Tanya Pacheco Director Distribution Jason Christie Director Creative Services Katherine Porcheron Durham Advisory Council Dan Carter; Esther Enyolu; Jake Farr; Dr. Vidal Chavannes; Cynthia Davis; Elaine Popp/Don Lovisa; John Henry; Sue McGovern; Kerri King; Steve Yamada; Kelly LaRocca; Peter Bethlenfalvy; Dr. Steven Murphy; Norah Marsh; Tracy Paterson; Chris Darling; Christina Curry CONTACT US This Week Phone: 905- 579-4407 Newsroom: 905-215-0462 Sales: 905-215-0424 Classifieds: 1-800-263-6480 Fax: 905-579-2238 Web: www.durhamregion.com Letters to the editor All letters must be fewer than 320 words and include your name and telephone number for verification purposes. We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject letters. Published letters will appear in print and/or online at durhamregion.com Delivery For all delivery inquiries, call 905- 579-4407 or visit the Contact Us page on durhamregion.com. OPINION TO LEARN HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR OWN CONTENT VISIT DURHAMREGION.COM Earth Day comes in the nick of time this year. Has our beautiful planet ever needed more care, love and attention than it does right now? Too often I'll be talking with a friend and one or the other of us will just shake our head and mutter "What a world!" We can't find words to express our shock, dismay and sorrow. I figure the best we can do, besides sending donations and reaching out to help however we can, is try to become the kindest, most caring person ever here at home, seeking to somehow balance the score, if not make up for atrocities our species is committing. We have to be extra kind to one another, extra kind to Mother Earth. Of all the excruciating stories flooding out of Ukraine, one small, poignant one stays with me: of fine mature shade trees lining the roadway into a village being felled to block advancing tanks. Giving up their lives in service to humanity, as trees are always willing to do. Seeing photos of those big trees lying there, I resolved to find a way to plant just as many here in Ontario this spring, in their memory. Native trees for cooling shade, carbon sequestering, ecosystem restoration, needed just as much here as overseas in a war-torn country. What better time to plant than Earth Day? Ukraine is often called the world's breadbasket. What will folks in the Middle East and North Africa eat this year if those wheat fields can't get planted? I watched a heart-wrench- ing interview of a not-so-elderly Ukrainian woman who'd sent her family off to safety and stayed behind to plant their garden, sleeping in an underground root cellar to hopefully escape the shelling. There she was, talking to a helmeted, bullet-vested reporter, while she hurriedly hilled soil over a row of potatoes with her hoe. So yes. Gardening is another good way to honour Earth Day. Flowers for beauty and pollinators, vegetables for healthy eating, native berry-bearing shrubs for birds and other wildlife -- all valuable, all good. And in between digging, planting and restoring nature areas, let's comb the neighbourhood and pick up every plastic cup and bag that blew about this winter, revealed now t hat the snows are gone. With all we've lived through lately -- storms and droughts, war and pestilence -- it's clear we're in this together, every species living on this precious planet of ours. One thing we humans are very good at is love. I say let's turn it on and shine it everywhere we go. Nature queries: mcarney1490@gmail.com or 905- 725-2116. Metroland columnist Margaret Carney finds so much to discover and marvel at exploring the great outdoors. 'WE'RE IN THIS TOGETHER' COLUMNIST SAYS OF EARTH'S SPECIES MARGARET CARNEY SAYS CLEANUPS GOOD WAY TO MARK EARTH DAY MARGARET CARNEY Column The original Canadarm, as seen from the shuttle Discovery's cabin, flexes above Earth on July 28, 2005. Of Earth Day, columnist Margaret Carney says 'we're in this together,' explaining that every living thing on the planet deserves our care and attention as we depend on one another in order to survive. Torstar file photo WE'RE IN THIS TOGETHER CAST YOUR BALLOT IN UPCOMING ELECTIONS To the editor: March 8 was International Women's Day, highlighting the importance and benefits of gender equality in our lives. Yet there are no women elected to Pickering City Council. This year, here in Canada and around the world, democracy is under attack. The key is to explain how the franchise of the vote is the essence of keeping democracy strong in Canada. Get out and vote in the June municipal and October provincial elections. We need high participation by Pickering and Ontario residents. In the 2018 municipal election voter turnout in Pickering was just under 30 per cent. It behooves us all to understand and accept our responsibility to get out and vote. EILEEN HIGDON, PICKERING OSHAWA'S CENTENNIAL SNEAKING UP ON US To the editor: The City of Oshawa is in the process of planning and staging celebrations for its centennial. The precise anniversary date is March 8, 2024 (when Oshawa received city status) but there will be celebrations throughout the year. Of course, community awareness and participation is integral to the success of the celebrations. To that end, it would be extremely helpful if every Oshawa business and individual with a website put a Countdown Clock, and any appropriate graphics, on their website and/or on their Facebook page. Your assistance and cooperation would be greatly appreciated and helpful. GREG MILOSH, OSHAWA UNWELCOME DUMP IN AJAX To the editor: I would like to bring to your attention the new Ajax dump. It started as a place where truckers would park their rigs overnight, or for a few days and as they would exit their trucks, so would all the coffee cups and other garbage. This has escalated to some truckers doing oil changes and other repairs and leaving their garbage behind. Some Ajax residents saw this mess and have decided that rather than pay Miller Waste, they will just dump their garbage here at Blowers Crescent. I suggest someone take a look at this mess before it escalates. RICHARD MELLESS, AJAX LETTERS & COMMENTARY