By Xinming Li, bostonese.com
Boston, August 30, 2016, — 2016 Miss Earth China (Boston) Grand Final will be held today at Kimpton Taconic Hotel in Manchester, VT. Michelle Wu, President of Boston City Council, congratulated the organizers and contestants. President Wu signed a Boston City Council resolution in recognition of Miss. Jing Xu for bring this event to Boston area.
Text of Boston City Council Resolution
Official Resolution
Offered by City Councilor Michelle Wu
Be it resolved, that the Boston City Council extends its appreciation to: Jing Xu
In recognition of:
Bringing Miss Earth China 2016 to the Boston Area and her commitment in educating the public in environmental protection and climate change and be it resolved that the Boston City Council hereby express its congratulations and best wishes for your continued success, that this resulution be duly signed by the President of the City Council and attested to and a copy thereof transmitted by the clerk of City of Boston.
By: Michelle Wu, President of the City Council
Date: August 30, 2016
There are a total of nine contestants made to the grand final. The following is self-introductions of two contestants.
Contestant No. 1: Maggie Yu
My name is Maggie Yu and I am a rising junior at Boston University. I am currently on a pre-law track majoring in Political Science and minoring in Anthropology. I aspire to be a lawyer in the future to give back to my community. Growing up in Chinatown, I saw and witnessed a lack of legal resources and even general awareness amongst the community members. As a result, I’ve been interning for different legal services this past year in order to gain more insight on what I can do to better my community. I will be the President of Verge Dance Company, a Chinese dance group founded during my first year of college. During my two years of being on Executive Board, Verge has not only doubled in the amount of members we have, but also the performance requests per semester. These performances show the rest of the BU community how Chinese culture is reflected through dance. I am also the Vice President of Internal Affairs of alpha Kappa Delta Phi Sorority, where I help coordinate and host successful Asian Awareness events in BU.
My biggest environmental concern is the amount of carbon emissions caused by the excess amount of vehicles on the road. Although it has become a standard that people will drive their personal cars to and from places, there are other environmentally conscious means of travel. With the rapidly growing technology, there are many innovative smart cars that run on less fuel and/or only use electricity to function. It is not necessary for people to drive in a city like Boston because it is very accessible by public transit. If people do need to use car, they could use Uber pool and split costs with whomever they are riding with. Not only is this environmentally friendly, it is also more cost effective. Rather than driving everywhere, I often opt to walk to places if it’s close by and take public transit is it’s further. I will only use Uber as a last resort if it is absolutely necessary. To spread awareness, I will work with a club and/or organization who shares this same vision of mine within BU. I will host seminars and various screenings that show the impact of excess carbon emissions. By starting small, it can lead into something big. If we all start by reducing our own carbon footprint, we will be able to help on a global scale.
Contestant No. 5: Melody Rong
My name is Melody. I’m 24 years old. I graduated from Rice University in Statistics.
I’m currently an Analyst in a company that focused on emission reduction. Last summer, I interned in a renewable energy consulting company. And I’m excited to share with you about my paperwork that California drought is related to climate change. So every single action you make every day in conserving the environment can make an impact on our lives.
I’m coming to Miss Earth to fulfill the mission of using this platform to promote environmental protection. I believe beauty comes from inside. It’s our imperfect outer appearances that make us unique. And it’s our humbling heart that makes us beautiful. Let’s go beauty for green, beauty for a cause, beauty for sustainability.
We’ve already been recycling, using public transportation and promoting renewable energy, but there is another factor that’s also a major source of global warming, and water, land degradation, the animal agriculture.
According to reports, quote, “livestock and their byproducts account for 51% of greenhouse gas emissions, more than the combined exhaust from all transportation”.
Under such circumstances, even without fossil fuels, we are still facing critical environmental challenges. As urgent action is required, we need to rethink what we eat. Why not try meat free Monday and vegetarian dishes every week? It benefits your health and helps a lot in reducing carbon footprint.
It’s a small act, but can make a big difference if we all work together to fight against climate change. By consuming less meat and then producing less meat, eventually we will cut down tremendous amount of greenhouse gas emissions.