Letter to Ahousaht

30 May 2008

Dear Mayor Fraser & Chief Frank;

We are the 2008 Sustainability Camp from Wickaninnish Elementary School. We stayed at the Clayoquot Field Station for three days and learned about sustainability. We learned that sustainability means keeping resources for future generations. We want to be sustainable so that we don't use everything up.

We're sorry that we missed you at our panel because we have some questions we wanted to ask you. Our questions include:

• Why isn't there any signage at the beaches that say "don't litter?"  We'd like there to be signs about signs about no littering. We think the signs should say "Please put your own garbage in the can, and if you see other litter on the beach please pick it up. If we leave garbage on the beach it could harm wildlife."
• Is Tofino or Opitsaht or Long Beach working on any renewable sources of energy?
• How do we make a community compost in Opitsaht?
• How can we get more people to recycle in Opitsaht?
• Why don't we tell more people about how good Tofino's water is (so we don't have to use bottled water)? We think there should be signs at sinks in hotels and public places.
• Why does Tofino's sewage have to go into the ocean? We think the sewage should be treated. We think all tourists and our local town should help by using biodegradable soap and not flushing harmful chemicals down the toilet.

We would like to invite you to our classroom to answer our questions. Please contact Ms. Timmermans to arrange a time.

We hope to see you soon.

Sincerely,

Mr. Fuller's Grade 6 class at Wickaninnish Elementary School (and some of Ms. Timmerman's Grade 6 class too).