Students of Mary Help of Christians School (MHCS) will present letters to the store managers of HEB, Walmart, and Sam’s on Thursday, November 15, as part of the city-wide Love Laredo B.I.G. (Bag It Green!) movement.
The letters ask the store managers to do their part to keep the Laredo cityscape and the Río Grande plastic bag-free.
Students will focus on the three retailers since they are among the largest in Laredo and contribute to the greatest amount of single use plastic usage in the city.
“The children are our future. We only have one common home; it is time we start empowering our youth and take action for our Earth that is already so much polluted,” said Sister Melissa Benitez, who has overseen the MHCS project.
“Our Holy Father Pope Francis says, ‘A Christian who doesn’t safeguard creation, who doesn’t make it flourish, is a Christian who isn’t concerned with God’s work, that work born of God’s love for us,’” she said
The Love Laredo B.I.G. campaign was formed shortly after the Texas Supreme Court issued its June 22 decision to strike down the plastic bag ordinance in Laredo and across Texas. The Laredo ordinance was passed in 2014 and took effect in 2015.
In the three years that the ordinance was in effect, Laredo was able to greatly reduce the 120 million single-use plastic bags that it consumed every year, which led to a much cleaner city and less plastic pollution entering the Río Grande, Laredo’s only source of drinking water.
Love Laredo B.I.G. members include city officials, organizations, and volunteers. The public awareness campaign includes bus ads, billboard signs, retailer pledges, and a five-day curriculum for all grade levels that are TEKS-aligned. The goal of the curriculum is to teach students about the perils of single use plastic and how they can urge business leaders and shoppers to choose alternative items instead.
“We believe that Laredo youth can take the lead in getting retailers to choose wisely for our future world and community,” RGISC Executive Director Tricia Cortez said. “Bravo to Mary Help students for their courage to speak out about this growing plastic crisis so that they can inherit a better world.”
RGISC is Laredo’s only environmental non-profit organization. It was founded in 1994 to protect and preserve the Rio Grande-Rio Bravo and local green spaces for the benefit of present and future generations.
For more information, contact Tricia Cortez at (956) 718-1063, or tricia@rgisc.org.
