WHAT'S NEW

The BCV Board is proud to announce BurGREENdy, the new environmentally friendly initiative of BCV!

You may be wondering,can BCV really be Burgundy and Green at the same time? The answer is YES! In the past, from time to time the BCV newsletters have included opportunities that focus on protecting our planet - a great way
to connect BCV members to community-building and social justice.

BurGREENdy will provide opportunities at least once a month that relate
to environmental stewardship ranging from stuffing envelopes at an environmental non-profit to eco-themed socials to volunteering with the National Park Service on the Mall. Keep your eyes peeled for monthly BurGREENdy opportunities!  Do you have a volunteer opportunity or social
that would make a great BurGREENdy event? Share it by email with the BCV BurGREENdy coordinators Steven Rentz and Rebecca Roose.

RECYCLE WITH PRIDE - FIRST GREEN CAPITAL PRIDE IN 33 YEAR HISTORY: BurGREENdy, the new environmental initiative of Burgundy Crescent Volunteers recycled 85 Bags, saving plastic and paper from becoming landfill.

The first recycling effort in the 33-year Capital Pride history was a huge success, with 85 bags, or approximately 2500 gallons, of glass, plastic and paper being saved from becoming landfill and heading for recycling.

Burgundy Crescent Volunteers (BCV) joined forces with the Capital Pride Planning Committee to green the annual Pride celebration of the DC metro area. With an estimated 270,000 patrons roaming Pennsylvania Avenue on a hot summer day, the Capital Pride Festival generated its share of water bottles, lemonade cups and soda cans. And for the first time in festival history, a dedicated crew of volunteers was there to make sure that many of these recyclable containers ended up on the recycling truck -- not the garbage truck. Everyone involved with making the environmental move at this year's festival agreed that it was time for the community to pay a little more attention to the green stripe in the rainbow.
  
"It was only natural that one of BCV's first BurGREENdy events was to introduce sustainable celebrating to the Capital Pride Festival," notes Rebecca Roose, BCV Board Member and co-coordinator of 2008 Capital Recycle with Pride. "We showed the local LGBT community that with minimal effort we can make a difference for our planet. After a strong premier, next year we'll show up with more bins, bags and volunteers, and generate even greater waste reduction."  

Not just for treehuggers and hippies, recycling has become a part of mainstream America. The organizers point out that recycling is one of the easiest environmentally-friendly activities for the public to adopt. "Most of us have gotten used to curbside recycling services and special bins at the office for paper, plastic and aluminum," says Steven Rentz, BCV Board Member and co-coordinator of Recycle with Pride responsible for working with the DC government and local businesses to make the effort a success. "What we've shown at Capital Pride this year is that even when we gather in extraordinary numbers we can bring these healthy habits with us." This is exactly what Capital Pride attendees should expect in the future. Prospects for next year include doubling the number of volunteers from the 25 who worked the seven-hour event this year, recycling a greater percentage of the waste generated throughout Pride week, and coordination with vendors to introduce more recyclable products into traditional festival fare.
  
There's no question that this year BCV and the rest of the DC area LGBT community have plenty of good reasons to feel proud.