The Rotary Club of Oakmont-Verona has partnered with the Oakmont Lions Club to come up with a unique way to both help the environment and beautify the area.
The organizations are collaborating with Trex Decking on a Plastic Film Challenge, in which the clubs’ members will collect plastic film items at locations around their communities. Once 500 pounds has been collected, Trex will contribute a park bench to placed in a public space.
Plastic film items are not typically recyclable and include grocery bags, dry-cleaning bags, cereal bags, bread bags, paper towel wrappings, and packaging from beverage cases. Typically, those items would wind up in a landfill, where they can take decades to break down. Instead, they’ll be going to Trex.
Rotary member Jada Donato, who is helping to spearhead the venture, said the program is offered to any neighborhood that wishes to participate.
“This is a very rewarding project that any community or school can work towards. It’s a great way to collaborate with friends, neighbors, and other Rotary club members,” she said.
The two organizations have collected 220 pounds of plastic in a month and a half via bins placed at Giant Eagle in Verona and the senior center at Riverview Community Action Corp. in Oakmont. The challenge lasts six months.
After the collection bins are full, the Rotary club then takes the items to the Pittsburgh Indoor Sports Arena in Cheswick, where everything gets sorted and packaged up to be sent to Trex. The PISA is owned by Karyn Brooks, who also is in the club.
“Our clubs would like to extend a very special thank you to Karyn Brooks and the staff of Cheswick’s Pittsburgh Indoor Sports for their hospitality and kindness in allowing our clubs to meet and sort through our bags of goodies,” Donato said. “In addition we were provided a delicious lunch for all the hungry sorters, compliments of PISA at no cost to the Rotary.
“This environmental project is something that is sustainable and is also an eye-opener to plastic items not able to be recycled in our local community recycling. When we all work together good things can happen for the environment.”
