Earth Day Village Challenge

Earth Day’s Village Challenge Promotes Reusable Bags

THE WOODLANDS, Texas -- It’s About the Bag, the 2009 Feed the Dragon Village Challenge, offers prizes for pledging to BYOB—bring your own bag when shopping—according to program organizers at the Community Associations of The Woodlands and The Woodlands G.R.E.E.N.

Held each spring and highlighted during the Earth Day festival, the challenge is a friendly competition among villages that rewards individuals and the community for taking positive steps for the environment. This year, entrants will earn points for their village and receive prizes for pledging to carry reusable shopping bags.

Local retailers have gotten behind the effort by offering incentives and prizes for participation in the promotion, according to Lynne Aldrich, manager of the Environmental Services Department at the Community Associations.

“Many eco-conscious consumers in the community already carry reusable shopping bags. The challenge rewards their efforts and invites others to make a difference,” Ms. Aldrich said. Reducing plastic shopping bags conserves oil, protects wildlife, reduces litter, and saves money. “Over its lifetime, just one cloth or mesh bag has the potential of replacing one thousand plastic bags.”

Pledges are being accepted now through the end of April online at the Community Associations' Web site, click on Earth Day and go to Village Challenge. Additionally, entries will be accepted at the Village Challenge booth at The Woodlands Earth Day Festival on Saturday, April 18, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at The Woodlands High School. Please call the Community Associations of The Woodlands, Environmental Services Department, at 281 210-3900 for more information.