Volunteers Work Through Rain for Bristol's Earth Day Cleanup
Despite the rain, the Department of Public Works reports that about 100 people showed up to the Keep Bristol Clean event held on Saturday.
Saturday's rain couldn't stop the diehard volunteers of Bristol who offered to spend their morning cleaning up areas of Bristol in honor of Earth Day.
According to Carol Mello of the Bristol Department of Public works, despite the cold drizzle, the turnout of supportive volunteers was impressive.
"We had just over one hundred people," she said. "Seems like the rain did not stop too many! Walgreens came in with three cars of people to help keep Bristol clean."
Bristol Cub Scout Pack 6 also joined in on the fun for a cause on Saturday, according to Pack leader Greg Ehlinger.
"The boys were very happy to perform some community service and picked up trash on a very muggy Saturday morning to clean up the town beach," he said. "Part of Scouting is performing regular acts of community service, even when it involves dirty deeds on a weekend."
Mello says she and the DPW look forward to next year's event and hope to see even more people show up to help. According to Mello, 2013 will mark 25 years of the Keep Bristol Clean project.
Jim Corcoran
6:11 pm on Monday, May 7, 2012
"As environmental science has advanced, it has become apparent that the human appetite for animal flesh is a driving force behind virtually every major category of environmental damage now threatening the human future: deforestation, erosion, fresh water scarcity, air and water pollution, climate change, biodiversity loss, social injustice, the destabilization of communities, and the spread of disease." Worldwatch Institute, "Is Meat Sustainable?"
"The livestock sector emerges as one of the top contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global. The findings of this report suggest that it should be a major policy focus when dealing with problems of land degradation, climate change and air pollution, water shortage and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity. Livestock’s contribution to environmental problems is on a massive scale and its potential contribution to their solution is equally large. The impact is so significant that it needs to be addressed with urgency." UN Food and Agricultural Organization's report "Livestock's Long Shadow"
“If every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetables and grains... the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than half a million cars off of U.S. roads.” Environmental Defense Fund
Why would someone choose to be vegan? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKr4HZ7ukSE and http://www.veganvideo.org