“I just want to say one word to you: Plastics.”
I’m old enough to remember that famous quote from the 1967 movie, “The Graduate.” Dustin Hoffman’s character (Ben) had just graduated from college and was confused and undecided about his future. The advice he received from family friend Mr. McGuire was that the future was in plastics. Boy, was it ever!
Since then, virtually everything is made from plastic. It has now gotten to the point that plastics are a major societal and environmental problem. This is especially the case with plastic materials that don’t get recycled.
Correcting our plastic waste problem requires a fundamental change in thinking about how plastics are made, used, and discarded. But, in the meantime there are things we can do as individuals…there are things we can do as Rotary clubs to help solve the plastics waste problem.
First, don’t use single-use plastics at all. Do we really need to put our groceries in a plastic bag that will be used once and pitched? Carrying groceries and other purchases in reusable bags is a huge step towards reducing plastic waste. Do we need to buy cucumbers that are wrapped in plastic film? Hasn’t our convenience lifestyle become ridiculous?
Today we can recycle single-use plastic bags and plastic film (think Amazon packaging) very easily. We all have seen the collection bins at grocery stores where you can deposit your bags. But, there’s an even better way to do it and have a positive impact on our communities.
At our November team meeting, DGN Mary Cook explained the plastics collection project that RC Collegeville has been doing. RC Hamburg has been doing the same thing for a number of years. The clubs participate in a collection program run by Trex Company of Winchester, Virginia. The plastics recycling program is called NexTrex. Collegeville and Hamburg clubs collect single-use plastic bags and plastic film and take them to Giant supermarkets for recycling. They deliver the plastic material in 55-gallon trash bags that they purchase from Walmart. When the club has collected 1000 pounds of plastic (the equivalent of 42,000 plastic bags), they are eligible to receive a park bench made of Trex material. Self-reporting the amount collected is done through the NexTrex website and is done on an honor system.
What a great and easy way to recycle plastics and have your community benefit with a new park bench. Give me a call if you would like more details. 610-743-0818
If your club is looking for an environmental program for an upcoming meeting, consider doing a program on measuring and reducing your personal carbon footprint. Contact Loretta Ottinger at loretta.ottinger@gmail.com .
Here’s a reminder that we’ll be holding another Rotary Day of Service – A Focus on the Environment on April 20, 2024. Hoping we get all our District clubs to do an environmental project on that day or sometime during April.
Terry L. Reed
Chair, District Environmental Sustainability Team