In Mike Nichols’ Oscar-winning 1967 film The Graduate, young Benjamin Braddock was given this word of advice regarding his business future: “Plastics!”.
Now, nearly sixty years later, that advice has come back to haunt us all. The world is now awash in plastic waste. Microplastic particles pollute our food, our water, even our blood. And the problem is getting worse. Plastic production is expected to triple by 2060, according to the Global Plastics Outlook Database.
While we may feel we’re doing our part by putting plastics in our recycling bins, the sad truth is that only a small portion of that ever gets recycled. While worldwide action is needed to mitigate the crisis, Saratoga Rotarians Nancy Shih and Phil Young decided to act locally.
“I’ve been interested in doing something at a local level, and have not seen any relevant programs at our club,” Shih said. “I first learned that the Los Altos club had some climate-action related programs when I attended our district’s Avenues of Service event in October, 2024. Then I attended the district’s Climate-Action Summit in January, 2025, where the Los Altos club presented their recycling drive in detail. That’s when I thought we could do the same at our club.”
Shih teamed up with Young when she learned of their common interest. “The current political climate compelled me to direct my energy in some positive direction,” Young explained.
Together, Nancy and Phil met with Los Altos Rotarians Laura Fay and Peter Landsberger to get more details, and made the decision to start the program in Saratoga.
The idea is simple: Collect plastics from your home or office, bring them to the weekly Rotary meeting, and deposit them in the bin. They’ll be used by NexTrex to manufacture durable composite outdoor decking and furniture.
The program got off to a promising start at the club’s April 25th meeting. “I was blown away by the response we received,” Young stated. “We completely filled one bin and half of another!”
However, it’s important to learn the types of plastic that are acceptable for the program: Only low-density polyethylene (type 4). While that’s only one of many types of plastics, you’re likely to find plenty of it in your home:
- Grocery bags
- Ziploc bags
- Produce bags
- Case overwrap
- Bread bags
- Newspaper sleeves
- Dry cleaning sleeves
- Bubble wrap
- Cereal box liners
Here’s the easiest test. Is it slightly stretchable? Then means it’s probably type 4. Does it make a crinkly/crunchy sound in your hand? Then it’s not! No frozen food bags, candy bar wrappers, chip bags, pet food bags, or salad mix bags.
The immediate goal is to collect at least 1,000 pounds of the stuff, whereupon Nancy and Phil will document and deliver it to NexTRex’s collection bins at selected Safeway and Lucky stores. Our club is then eligible to receive a sturdy outdoor Trex bench, which we can donate to the community. But a far greater reward is to keep thousands of pounds of plastic waste from ending up in a landfill, or worse, in the sea.
But Nancy and Phil urge Saratoga Rotarians to take it to the next level. “Phase two would be to expand education and recycling to the larger communities, such as local schools and retail stores.” Explained Shih.
Beyond that, Shih and Young urge us Rotarians to avoid buying plastics whenever possible, re-use as many times as possible, and dispose of them properly when they can no longer be re-used. And, we should advocate for laws to reduce our consumption of plastics.
In addition to the Los Altos Rotary Club, which has diverted nearly a ton of plastics from landfills, many other Rotary clubs have taken up the challenge. Paulsbo, WA Rotarians have so far collected over 44,000 pounds of the stuff!
A cynic may say that it’s still a drop in the bucket. But when enough Rotarians spread the word and start acting locally, drops become streams, and streams become floods.
Contact Nancy Shih and Phil Young if you have questions about acceptable plastics.