THE Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality-Division of Coastal Resources Management is encouraging festivalgoers to help make the 22nd Annual Taste of the Marianas International Food Festival & Beer Garden plastic-free by using eco-friendly products.
BECQ-DCRM is asking community members to bring their own reusable shopping bags and/or cutlery to the festival, which is set to take place Saturday, Aug. 28 at the Garapan Fishing Base.
DCRM will have a booth at the festival and will host a raffle drawing for a chance to win a reusable metal straw or a stainless-steel cup while supplies last.
To enter the raffle, participants must show their reusable swag at the booth.
The agency would like to remind the general public that the CNMI’s top five most collected plastic items during the 2020 International Coastal Cleanup were cigarette butts, plastic cutlery, plastic shopping bags, plastic straws/stirrers, and plastic bottles/bottle caps.
“We can stop plastic pollution by lessening our consumption of single-use plastic. Let’s work together to create a plastic-free Marianas,” the agency announced on Thursday.
The Taste of the Marianas is the annual signature event of the Marianas Visitors Authority, featuring international cuisine, live entertainment, and arts and crafts sales.
The three-day festival will kick off at 4 p.m., Friday, Aug. 27, and will continue until 10 p.m.
On Saturday, Aug. 28, and Sunday, Aug. 29, the festivities will begin at 5 p.m. and end at 10 p.m.
