To the editor:

Fellow island citizens, as we begin this year’s festivities for the celebration of the Declaration of Independence, please consider the following:

Resting in the vision that the Fourth of July is a Celebration of Interdependence — and thus, is also an honoring of wildlife, water, air and animal — as well as the Great Spirit of Compassion, from which our citizens continually exhibit.

If birds are fleeing their nests the week of firework ignitions, leaving young, how can we be content?

If individuals, including former military vets, experience noise trauma and property damage, who calms their hearts and pays the bills of repair?

If the state and local governments refuse to act, and yet spend millions of dollars on fire damage and personal injury, who needs to act?

Waters become undrinkable if perchlorate and chemicals fill the reservoirs and lakes and oceans; air is polluted by the same chemicals it takes to create explosives of fireworks. Who breathes and drinks from these sources? Who cleans the beaches and waterfronts the day after?

If your pet or livestock had to be euthanized from injuries or trauma by the sounds of “freedom” — would you care a little more about the use of fireworks?

Please reconsider your actions this year, and see if you’d agree with Thomas Jefferson, as he noted: “As new discoveries are made, new truths discovered. With the change of circumstances, institutions (and individuals) must advance also to keep pace with the times.”

May we keep pace with new awareness and consciousness.

Shirley Jantz

Langley