New Bedford Volunteer Group Aims to Clean Streets for Earth Day
Earth Day is coming up and I want everyone to celebrate it.
Personally, I try to treat every day as Earth Day by making a conscious effort to recycle and dispose of trash properly. When I see people litter, my blood pressure spikes, but instead of getting angry, I want to provide solutions, so I’m spreading the word about a local campaign that starts April 10. Operation Clean Sweep aims to clean up the streets of New Bedford, but they need our help.
The organization was formed in 2006 in response to concerns over the amount of trash and litter in the area. Their website explains how dedicated volunteers have performed “close to 26,000 hours of community service and cleaned over 87 tons of trash from many miles of New Bedford neighborhood streets.” They estimate that their volunteer services have provided over $785,000 to the city of New Bedford.
NationofChange
Paving roads in plastic can help with pollution problem
“Recycled plastic binders are ‘closing the loop’ by using plastic that had been used for something else and giving it new life, keeping the plastic out of our landfills and oceans.”
So far, 12 countries have built roads out of plastic instead of asphalt, helping both the global plastic pollution problem and climate change.
First appearing in India two decades ago, plastic roads are being tested and built in more and more countries as the world’s plastic pollution problem becomes more acutely felt. India has installed over 60,000 miles of these roads. The technology, meanwhile, is gaining ground in Britain, Europe, and Asia. Several countries South Africa, Vietnam, Mexico, the Philippines, and the United States, among them have built their first plastic roads only recently, reports Yale Environment 360.