Universalist Unitarian Society of Laconia Green Sanctuary Committee: Grateful for public's help in plastic bag recycling drive

To The Daily Sun,

Thank you to the greater Laconia community for responding to the call to drop off recyclable plastic bags and wrappings, and in so doing helping to keep the harmful chemicals from these plastics out of our environment. On Nov. 21, volunteers of the Laconia-Gilford Lions together with members of the Green Sanctuary Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Laconia joined in front of the little white church at 172 Pleasant St. collecting recyclable plastics, primarily bags, then transferring them to a midway site. Ultimately these plastics will be used in the manufacture of composite decking and furniture. We netted nearly 200 pounds of plastic. Congratulations to each of you who stopped by!

With the onset of increasing numbers of positive COVID-19 cases, we are unsure whether we will be able to have another collection in the next weeks. We would like to do so after Christmas, and we will advertise if we can pull this together. Please know how important an impact each of us has in recycling plastic bags and package wrappings, especially now in this holiday shopping season when a higher percentage than ever is being done online. Communities customarily burn the plastics thrown out with our trash causing health compromising toxic gases. We have enough health concern without releasing dioxins into the air to compromise our breathing. Meantime, please bring your clean plastic bags, wrappings, bubble wrap, bread wrappers, vegetable bags, pet food bags to the recycling bins outside the doors of our grocers and to inside bins such as at Kohl's, Walmart and some other retailers. They are set up to get the plastics to companies for reuse. Nothing is ever really thrown away — it all has to go somewhere. By recycling and reusing, we reduce the amount of waste that sits in landfills (where even biodegradable products often cannot break down due to lack of oxygen and sunlight).

Inez Andrews

Member, Green Sanctuary Committee, Universalist Unitarian Society of Laconia