The Advertiser's mission statement, which is published on the editorial page daily, includes this goal: "To cherish the land and sea."

It means that we hold ourselves to a standard of solid coverage of environmental issues and we also try to provide tips and resource guides for readers who want to do their part for the environment.

It is not only our obligation as a newspaper, but we also know that our readers share a deep interest in environmental issues.

Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau chief Jan TenBruggencate has covered the environment — as well as science — for a number of years and writes a Monday column , "Hawai'i's Environment" in which he reports on issues and takes questions from readers.

TenBruggencate says the topics of interest readers mention to him most often are native birds, pesticides, streams, reef and coastal issues.

In addition to our local coverage, news desk editors also flag stories about environmental issues when they see them on the wire. News editor Steve Petranik and wire editor Chris Neil said they look for stories on oceans, and the Pacific in particular; global warming, especially in regard to rising ocean levels; fish stocks; volcano research; tsunamis and hurricane patterns.

One of the most popular syndicated features in the paper is Earthweek, which can be found in the main news section on Sundays. It provides a weekly roundup of weather and environment phenomena from around the world. It was inadvertently omitted one Sunday a while back and I heard from a number of you!

In addition to news stories on the environment, readers also tell us they want information on ways they can do their part.

On Mondays, "For the Environment," a calendar focusing on group and volunteer activities, runs on Page B3 of the Hawai'i section. It lists volunteer and work day activities that range from removal of non-native species and building habitats for endangered water birds to trail cleaning and weeding. For the less hardy, there are sometimes opportunities to help with staffing information desks or check-in for work days.

Many of the projects require no experience and many offer opportunities to learn about such things as coral reefs and protected species.

Advertiser Neighbor Island editor Christie Wilson compiles the listings and weekly goes to a number of websites to seek out those volunteer opportunities. She welcomes project submissions. You can reach her by email: cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com; fax: 808-242-1520 or at P.O. Box 156, Wailuku, HI 96793.

Also on Mondays, Save the Planet in the Island Life section focuses on things people can do to help the environment. It includes everything from tips on how to save energy or where to recycle cell phones, to events such as beach cleanups and composting workshops.

The Island Life section also looks for home and garden stories that emphasize careful use of resources. Such stories include composting, use of environmentally friendly building, lawn and garden materials and practices, growing native plants and such.

The goal of of these features is to be useful to you. If you have any suggestions for items you would like to see included, please let me know.