Four new park benches will soon be installed in Snohomish. They’re being paid for with 2,000 pounds of recycled plastic. The benches are the result of a recycling program, Bags-to-Benches, launched by the Snohomish Lions Club last November. The Lions and other local groups have been collecting recycled plastic — lots and lots and lots of it — to send to a company that, in turn, donates benches made from composite recycled materials.
What started out as a backyard operation quickly snowballed into a long-term community project. Lions Club treasurer, Renee Deierling, said she never imagined the project would pick up so much traction when she pitched it to the club last year. “It’s going so well, and people are so happy to divert plastic from landfills,” she said. “It’s nice to have something that gives you a finished product and benefits the community. People are really loving the idea.”
Initially, the club set out with a goal to collect enough plastic for just one bench. That’s 500 pounds, or about 40,500 bags. But less than two months later, they surpassed that goal and garnered support for the project from other community groups, including Green Snohomish, Snohomish Kiwanis, high school groups and Girl Scouts Service Unit 223.
On Wednesday, they collected enough plastic to get a fourth bench, thanks to help from Key Club students at Snohomish and Glacier Peak high schools who collected 200 pounds altogether.
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