You wouldn’t think piles of plastic that should have been destined for a landfill could be transformed into a place of reflection in a garden spot.

But that’s just what happened at Temple Shir Shalom in a community collaboration that turned soft plastic waste into something lasting, a TREX bench made of recycled materials for the synagogue’s garden.

“Besides keeping plastic out of the landfill, it is an easy, doable project by everyone, and it gets everyone to think about the amount of non-biodegradable waste that surrounds our lives, said Ellen Siegel, part of the Green Team task force at Shir Shalom and a climate speaker specialist with the CLEO institute.

Sara Nussel, a member of Southwest United Methodist Church, is the driving force behind the effort, which is continuing. It has brought the same benches made primarily of recycled plastic bags to be placed outside several other places of worship, including Nussel’s church. Wesley United Methodist Church was second and now Shir Shalom. Another bench is coming soon to First United Methodist Church.

“God’s bigger than just one group of people. So, he’s called us to take better care of the earth. And what a simple way to do it. Find something to do with all this plastic,”  Nussel said.

Nussel said she stumbled upon TREX, a Winchester, Virginia-based company, which makes the benches. On its website, the company says its “composite decking is made up of 95 percent recycled and reclaimed materials –doing our part in being eco-conscious.” The company is located near Shenandoah National Park, which must inspire.

Nussel and others take the plastic bags that have been collected to Publix, which gets them to TREK.

“When those people turn in their plastic, it’s like a plastic tsunami,” Nussel said. “When they have done their job, there’s barely room for me in my car, and I can’t see out. I can just barely get to Publix.” 

Nussel is a plastic devotee for all the right reasons, and she makes purses and handbags from plastic.

Rabbi Cy Stanway offered a blessing for the new community bench at a weekend event at Shir Shalom, noting that “from what was once cast aside, we have made something last and useful, a seat for rest, reflection, and connection.”

Stanway said he was thrilled by the collaborative effort involved with the project.

“Anytime you can work with another element of the community, it’s a good project. To do something positive, and the environmental aspect of it, aligns with all of our values at Shir Shalom,” he said.

Pastor Kolby Golliher of Wesley United Methodist Church, whose congregation donated their plastic pounds to the project, said all he and his congregation were doing was following Biblical directives.

“This commandment, this God-given commandment, is to be stewards of creation. And so, this is just one of the cool ways we get to come alongside God and our community,” he said

Volunteers from faith communities are not the only ones to get on board with this effort. Residents of Oak Hammock at the University of Florida contributed the lion’s share of plastic, Siegel said.

Rebecca Snowden, the housekeeping and laundry manager at Oak Hammock, got the effort started there after she met Siegel.

“It’s just been such an interesting process, to see what you’re doing for the environment, or knowing that all the plastic isn’t going into a landfill. It’s a great feeling,” Snowden said.

Malgorzata Deyrup, who owns the clothing store at Shoppes of Thornebrook, which bears her name, is the first commercial enterprise to join the effort.

“I have a lot of plastic because all the clothes come wrapped in plastic, unfortunately.  I was very enthusiastic about it. So, I donated a lot of it,” she said.

Deyrup, Goliher, Snowden, and Nusell were all awarded certificates for their efforts.

For more information about the local TREX movement, contact Sara Nussel at SaraArtNus@gmail.com or at 352.538.1383.