AFFORDABLE RENTALS

Counties must make it easier for families to find place to live

Whenever the topic of affordable housing comes up, people usually mean houses or condos for purchase.

With Hawai'i's economic recession becoming more of a reality every day, families are struggling with rising energy costs, medical coverage and putting food on the family table, never mind trying to buy a house.

Homelessness has become one of Hawai'i's most intractable problems.

Gov. Lingle and Mayor Hannemann are voicing strong commitments to work on the economy. But all counties must encourage more affordable housing. With Hawai'i's high housing costs and relatively low wages, many families can't entertain the thought of buying a home.

Counties must shift their priority to affordable rentals. Many Hawai'i residents will never be able to afford a house, but rentals will provide sensible shelter at an affordable price.

Government and businesses must also find more opportunities to work together.

If the Legislature does not find solutions to make rentals affordable immediately, it will prolong the plight of struggling families and increase homelessness on our islands.

— Kanya Gagarin | Grade 11, Sacred Hearts Academy

PROMOTE RECYCLING

Improving efforts already in place will help preserve 'aina

As a teen living in Hawai'i concerned about the future of the environment, I think recycling is a topic policymakers must address. It's essential that we improve our recycling efforts.

Although plastic bags are lightweight and convenient, they are not biodegradable and are harmful to the environment — it's essential that we eliminate the use of plastic bags.

Some stores are already encouraging the use of reusable shopping bags. We can take that a step further by either placing a tax on plastic bags or banning them completely. This has been done in other communities across the country, and would be effective here.

Hawai'i is in the midst of implementing a multi-phase curbside recycling program. This has made recycling more convenient and encourages more participation. This program needs to spread rapidly to more communities throughout Hawai'i.

The bottle law, too, has been successful in promoting recycling efforts.

Through promoting more recycling efforts in our state, we can help ensure that we preserve our beautiful environment. That's a goal worth working for.

— Stephanie Liem | Grade 11, Punahou School

HELP THE HOMELESS

Take time to meet less fortunate before considering action

This past summer, I was lucky enough to spend three weeks in San Francisco. I dealt with the tourists at Fisherman's Wharf, and nearly froze to death walking across the fog-shrouded Golden Gate Bridge (in slippers, no less).

One of my most important memories, though, was not something unique to San Francisco. A miscount left us with some extra lunches, so instead of letting them go to waste, we headed down to the Civic Center (the area surrounding City Hall) and gave them to the homeless.

The fact that someone does not have a home does not make them less of a person.

Before the city takes steps toward tackling the homeless problem, the mayor and the City Council should get together one Saturday and hand out sandwiches and bottled water at parks and beaches around the island. That would allow them to meet the homeless whose fate they hold in their hands.

One cannot wave a wand and fix homelessness from behind a desk.

It is easy to sweep the homeless out of parks if one has never spoken to someone who calls a tent home; it's much harder once you've interacted with them.

— Taylor Mitchell | Grade 12, Kamehameha Schools

INVEST IN RAIL

This commuter looks forward to riding the train, a better future

With nearly a million people living on O'ahu, daily commutes are treacherous. The city has to invest in an efficient rail system that stops in areas visited frequently, including near schools.

There are only three highways and a major corridor where most of the jobs exist.

As a resident of a suburb traveling into town on an everyday basis, as well as a future driver, I say this state needs more transportation options other than cars and buses.

I plan to utilize the rail- transit system once it is built. Not only will it be faster and cheaper, but our atmosphere will not be as polluted. We can also get more exercise walking to and from the train stations.

Rail will also reduce the possibility of an accident on the roadways, preventing traffic jams.

Some argue that rail transit costs too much. That's shortsighted. Other cities have made the long-term investment, and are thankful they did.

For these reasons and more, the city's rail transit is clearly a wise investment — it's an investment in our future.

— Samantha Neudorf | Grade 11, Moanalua High School

AGING INFRASTRUCTURE

Restore state's roads, buildings and sewers before it's too late

Hawai'i's infrastructure is slowly aging and falling apart. The roads and sewer systems need major overhauls, and many of our state buildings, including those on the University of Hawai'i campus, are in sorry shape.

The state and the city need to invest in Hawai'i's infrastructure before it becomes too late.

Time is not on our side. And unfortunately, in some cases, time has already run out. Many sewer mains are breaking and potholes are littering Hawai'i's roads. Decades of neglect have now put the city in the position of playing catch-up, rather than focusing on planning for a better future.

And while some improvements are under way at UH, too many of the buildings are in poor shape; it's the same at other public schools as well. Is that how we value our public education system and our state university? Let's hope not.

Hawai'i must do a better job of planning for our future. That includes finding ways to improve and maintain our infrastructure, even in difficult economic times.

Maintaining Hawai'i's central infrastructure is key for residents and worth heavy investment of money and time.

— Finn Curran | Grade 12, Kaiser High School

BEVERAGE CONTAINERS

Increase ease and opportunities to recycle in community

Environmental protection policies have greatly broadened in recent years. The expansion has created involvement opportunities for virtually every person to participate in. Recycling has become especially popular because of the state's bottle tax incentive. While recycling rates have increased, there is still much room for improvement.

One problem with the bottle recycling program is recycling center availability. People often decide whether or not to recycle based solely on convenience. The answer to this is to have more recycling centers located in schools and community centers. This is particularly important for those who aren't lucky enough to be part of the city's curbside recycling program yet.

Another way to increase recycling in Hawai'i would be to require restaurants to have at least one recycling bin for customers. I see people throwing their cans and bottles into waste bins, but I believe that if given the option, these people would choose to recycle.

The state and the city need to keep the momentum going by introducing more recycling opportunities for the people in Hawai'i. The concept of recycling is very appealing, but the inconveniences posed by recycling cause many people to rethink their environmentally friendly intentions.

— Devon Catalan | Grade 12, Mid-Pacific Institute

EVERYONE PITCHING IN

As curbside program expands, it's easier than ever to recycle

With the gradual implementation of the curbside recycling program, definite progress is being made toward keeping papers and plastics out of our Island landfills. I'm excited that the project is expanding after successes in the Mililani and Hawai'i Kai areas, and will soon be available in all areas of the island.

I believe that the majority of Hawai'i residents are eager to recycle, and that many people will be eager to take advantage of this program and enjoy the effortlessness of the system.

Most residents realize that recycling is especially necessary to keep Hawai'i the island paradise that it is. Some may be skeptical about the value of recycling, but the pros clearly outweigh the cons. The recycling program does cost money (collection, transportation, processing), but the amount of money saved by reusing products and the value of preserving our natural resources outweigh the costs.

With each person doing their part, recycling efforts can be fruitful and efficient. Recycling has never been as easy as it will be with the new curbside program, so why not participate? How much harder is it to throw your bottles in a blue can as opposed to a gray one? It's the least we can do for our island, this beautiful place we all call home.

— Chloe Yester | Grade 11, Kahuku High School

IMPROVE BUS SYSTEM

Bus stops, fleet should be expanded to fill after-school need

The City and County of Honolulu needs to improve TheBus system. Many people are searching for other means of transportation and the bus is an excellent option.

I catch the 85 Express bus to and from school. Many bus stops are filled with cracked seats and leaking roofs, which makes waiting for the bus very uncomfortable. The buses themselves should all be upgraded to cleaner and more energy-efficient buses.

There should also be more buses and more convenient stops. Many buses are extremely crowded during certain times, so perhaps more buses should be available during those times for convenience of the passengers. The 85 bus is often so crowded because of so many students needing rides to the Windward side from town, that those standing up don't even have enough room to turn around.

Adding more express buses, especially at later times like 6:30 p.m., could alleviate the stress on parents to pick up their kids late at night, when their children have late activities at the schools.

TheBus is a great means of transportation, so I encourage others to use it. You can save gasoline and not worry about the distractions of driving.

— Janae Rasmussen | Grade 9, UH Laboratory School

EXPAND RECYCLING

Honolulu can increase education and perhaps look into outsourcing

People are increasingly concerned with preserving our environment and natural resources. Through recycling, we can work toward taking even better care of our Earth.

Hawai'i recently started curbside recycling — a great innovation compared to waiting in long lines for drop-off. Now many households in Hawai'i can put their cardboard, plastic and cans to good use. But there are many other recyclable items not applicable to the curbside program.

Community recycling centers also accept some forms of paper, but only a couple places accept magazines.

Perhaps Honolulu could improve its recycling program by outsourcing to Mainland factories. There, glossy cardboard and magazines are easily recycled.

We should also work on increasing education on the benefits of recycling. People still throw away their aluminum cans without realizing the potential for recycling.

I get the same satisfaction from recycling as when I pluck plastic bags out of the ocean. All our efforts should go to prolonging the life of the land and the lives on it.

If recycling efforts do not increase, recycling should become a law — it should be considered an environmental protection act.

— Takara Sights | Grade 11, La Pietra - Hawaii School for Girls