Sara Nussel offers this celebration of the plastic recycling eco-project at her Florida UMC.
My motto: God is Green! That’s the bumper sticker on the back of my Chevy Bolt.
I like to talk about all things “green” that are happening in my life and, hopefully, encourage others to do the same. This includes my brothers and sisters at my church, Southwest UMC in Gainesville, Florida. Recently we started saving plastic film to earn a bench for our church garden. We are in partnership with a company called Trex that takes plastic film and wood scraps to make outdoor decking. Ninety-five per cent of their product begins as garbage.
I’ve got another cool saying that I’ve been using often: “We must embrace the circular economy.”
Trex actually makes that happen on a day-to-day basis. They encourage civic groups, schools, and churches to save plastic film, so my church rose to the challenge. When we collect one thousand pounds of plastic film, then Trex will give us a bench for our church garden.
I inherited this project from my friend, Monique. She and the local women’s club collected enough plastic film to earn two garden benches for the club. Then she passed the baton to me.
In the above picture you see Sara (that’s me), Monique, and Judy. Monique handed over the job of plastic collector to Judy and me. We are now collecting plastic film from six houses of faith in Gainesville. So far we’ve amassed 261 pounds! God is Green!
Above are the two benches at the elementary school where Monique is the librarian. These are made by Polywood, using plastic milk jugs, and distributed by their sister site, Trex.
We have collection boxes in several UMCs and a synagogue. Here is the collection box and a list of the plastic they accept.
Our people are really into saving plastic. I know God will bless our efforts, and we will reach our goal.
God is Green!
Sara Nussel is a green evangelist and serves as a Creation Care Team leader in her local church and is a member of the Creation Care Task Force for the Florida Conference. She runs the Facebook group, Sara’s Greenies, and has a Facebook page, Adventures of Eco-Gal. She is a commissioned UM EarthKeeper.