Letters: Re-use your foil

Re “How a family’s path veered,” Sept. 22

The article points out that Janet Barker, who supports her ex-husband, daughter, son-in-law and grandson, “was better off than her parents, who refolded aluminum foil to use again.”

What’s wrong with refolding aluminum foil? You made it sound as if it is indicative of poverty. It’s not.

Reusing aluminum foil — or any number of “disposable” products — is good for the environment as well as the pocketbook. I can easily afford to throw away the clean foil in which I warmed some rolls, or the pump-style lotion bottle with an inch of lotion left, or the heavy plastic bag that kept the bread fresh. But a lifetime of reuse has given me more options when times are lean or opportunities present themselves.

And with 5% of the electricity generated in the U.S. going to aluminum production, reusing clean foil should be encouraged, not derided as something only poor people do.

Michael Deck

Altadena

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