CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Whether it be free haircuts or book and blanket giveaways; on Sundays at Artesian Park, you can find the group 'Tacos Not Bombs' giving a helping hand to those who are in need.
If you stop by on a Sunday, you may notice long lines, a major factor is the free meals handed out by volunteers. However, the way the plates are being passed out will change, as the group will now say no to handing out food with plastic bags. Tacos Not Bombs administrator John Meza said he has gotten many reports concerning the use and disposing of plastic bags.
“The City contacted us saying ‘hey can you do anything about the plastic bags, is possible to serve your meals without bags,’ yes it’s possible, it’s inconvenient but it’s possible,” said Meza.
Members of the Corpus Christi Downtown Management District said keeping a safe, beautiful and clean downtown are part of their core values.
“Having a clean downtown is really essential to having a vibrant and revitalized downtown where people want to open business and people want to come and spend time,” said executive director of the Downtown Management District Alyssa Barrera Mason.
Barrera Mason said their clean team which was established back in 2014 works very hard to keep our downtown clean. The Downtown Management District said after all events and gatherings, folks must remember to their part and leave the downtown area the way you found it.
“Part of our job at the downtown management district is making sure that downtown is returned to clean state after any event, so we have the same requirements for a street festival, a celebration at the park for any event of the right of way ,or the public space in the downtown area we require clean up afterwards,” said Barrea Mason.
Meza said now their team no longer uses plastic bags when giving out food; they use reusable tote bags instead. Meza also said all materials are donated by different people and organizations across the Coastal Bend, and that they will adjust to these changes so that way they can continue their mission.
“It’s bad for the environment, the city wants us to cut down on it, keep us here at the park serving our meals, so we’re going to comply,” said Meza.
