Our chapter’s collaboration with Johnson Space Center and University of Houston-Clear Lake to recycle flimsy plastic (a.k.a. plastic film) and earn a plastic composite bench from Trex was so successful that we plan to make this an ongoing volunteer opportunity. From April 1, 2022, through Sept. 30, 2022, the group collected more than 2,000 pounds of plastic film and earned 2 benches, with another on the way!
As GBAC-TMN volunteers, you can assist with this effort each week by:
~ dropping off your plastic film at Carbide Park or UHCL (during normal operating hours)
~ weighing plastic you’ve collected at your home and delivering it to a retail collection site
~ sorting and weighing the film at Carbide (Tuesdays or Thursdays)
~ picking up the film from Carbide (Tues. or Thurs.) or UHCL (Fridays) and delivering it to a retail collection site
~ Participating retail collection sites in our area are Kroger & Randall’s
We ask that you sign up ahead of time at this Signup Genius link so we know the slots are covered. Please email Sandy Parker or Emily Morris if you have trouble with Signup Genius. Once you have completed your volunteer shift, please fill out the Plastic Film Weight and Delivery form .
A recorded training PowerPoint explains how to volunteer for this program and can be viewed at this Zoom link.
The Green Team committee meets via Zoom on the 3rd Thursday each month at 6:30pm. If you would like more information about the Green Team or would like to join us, please contact Sandy Parker (847-903-7949) or Emily Morris (832-443-3617).
Be Part of the Pollution Solution!
As Texas Master Naturalists, reducing our plastic waste should be a daily concern, but since 2011, the month of July has been set aside for plastic-waste awareness worldwide. During “Plastic Free July,” the Plastic Free Foundation encourages participants worldwide to say “No” to single-use plastic (SUP). The plasticfreejuly.org website provides a 1+-minute video about how to avoid SUPs, a link to sign up for the Plastic Free July (PFJ) challenge, and a Pesky Plastics Quiz that collects data about participants’ current waste habits. A follow-up quiz is promised for August to see how participant habits changed because of the PFJ challenge. Locally, this special emphasis on plastic waste gives Texas Master Naturalists an opportunity to model and explain the importance of reducing the production and use of single-use plastics in our community. Won’t you join in this challenge? Click the links to learn more.
Associated links
Plastic Free July Challenge – plasticfreejuly.org
Galveston to be in a pilot for reusable restaurant take-out containers – Perpetual Galveston
Longview to get molecular recycling facility – Longview News-Journal – March 2024
Light-driven polymer recycling to monomers and small molecules – Peer-reviewed article In Nature Communications – Dec. 2023
The Story of Plastic – animated short video – 2021
The Story of Plastic (video documentary) – available to rent on Amazon Prime – 2020