The Employees’ Committee for a Sustainable Lakewood summer project focused on recycling plastic bags which are ubiquitous in our culture and usually used once and thrown into landfills. Statistics show that over 50,000 plastic bags are used in the U.S. every 5 seconds. They are made from non-renewable resources, don’t break down in landfills, and over time can release toxic chemicals. The difficulty in plastic bag recycling is that they cause numerous problems in the single-stream recycling process, most notably by interfering with equipment used by most recycling facilities.    

The committee worked with Stephen Wilson in Planning, King Soopers and Trex to accept large amounts of plastic collected by employees this summer. The Trex Recycle program has a nationwide program to recycle plastic into outdoor decking and furniture. This was turned into a Citywide challenge to see which department or division could collect the most plastic. Employees collected a total of­­­­ 387 pounds of plastic through Aug. 11. 

Trex will be donating a bench made from recycled plastic back to the City, and it will be placed in the Bear Creek Greenbelt. The division gathering the most plastic during the challenge will be able to write an inscription for a plaque to be placed on the bench. 

For future recycling of plastic bags, check with one of the grocers on the Trex partner list. There is usually a large barrel in the entrance of these stores where they collect plastic suitable for recycling.

Have you joined the Save the 'Zone effort yet? This initiative to reduce drive-alone trips and ground level ozone will help improve Lakewood's air quality, save you money and improve your personal health. Since the program began this spring, participants have logged nearly 20,000 miles by biking, walking, carpooling or taking the bus, burning more than 480,000 calories and saving more than $7,500. 

Sign up by joining the Save the ’Zone network through My Way to Go to track your trips and view carbon emissions reduced, calories burned, dollars saved and miles shifted. Watch your individual impact grow and see how it contributes to Lakewood’s collective impact through Save the ’Zone. 

This month's featured 2017 Sustainability Award winner is the Environmental Club at Hutchinson Elementary. The students in the environmental club decided to celebrate Earth Day by helping others recycle materials that cannot go in typical recycle bins. The students planned the event from beginning to end, overcoming financial obstacles through funding from the Jane Goodall Roots & Shoots grant program and the school’s Parent Teacher Organization. The event provided a variety of recycling and repurposing opportunities for miscellaneous and hard-to-recycle items and collected more than 6,000 pounds of shredded paper, five bins of electronics, one tractor trailer of used latex paint, hundreds of donations to Arc Thrift stores and more than $2,000 in donations to the Environmental Club. With the earnings, the club plans to beautify the school garden and work toward getting rid of Styrofoam and plastic flatware in the cafeteria.  

Watch a video of some of the club leaders sharing their experience. The club is already planning another great event for Earth Day 2018. Keep an eye out for more information!