Plastic is ENMESHED in our daily lives. We see it in single-use items, such as straws and grocery bags; longer-term applications, such as various elements in our vehicles; and vital tools, such as medical tubing and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), all of which create plastic waste and ultimately micro- and nanoparticles that leach into our ecosystem and our bodies. But plastics also create jobs in the manufacture of these products. Plastic is not going away any time soon, and because of that, we need to do all we can to reduce plastic waste at every FEASIBLE level.
RECYCLING PLASTIC FILM IS ONE WAY WE CAN KEEP PLASTIC WASTE OUT OF OUR ECOSYSTEM.
In 2022, the Green Team committee collaborated with Johnson Space Center and University of Houston-Clear Lake (UHCL) in a pilot program to recycle flimsy plastic (a.k.a. plastic film) and earn a plastic-composite bench from Trex Co. From April 1, 2022, through Sept. 30, 2022, the group collected more than 2,000 pounds of plastic film and earned 3 benches! The program was so successful that we have made this effort an ongoing volunteer opportunity.
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
~ picking up the film from Carbide or UHCL and delivering it to a retail collection site
~ Participating Trex collection sites in our area are Kroger grocery stores
Click here for Volunteer Instructions
We ask that you sign up ahead of time at this Signup Genius link so we know the weeks are covered. Please email Sandy Parker or Emily Morris if you have trouble with Signup Genius or have any questions.
The Green Team committee meets via Zoom at 6:30pm. on the 3rd Thursday of most months. Our next meeting is Jan. 20, 2026. 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
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