Bays Mountain Park launches 'Bags to Benches' initiative
KINGSPORT — You too can help make a park bench at Bays Mountain.
In case you’re hip deep in grocery or other plastic store bags and don’t know what to do with them — Bays Mountain Park will gladly take them off your hands.
The park has recently launched a “Bags to Benches” initiative where patrons can drop off used (but clean) plastic bags. For every 10,000 bags collected, the park receives one free composite wood bench.
Melissa Keeler, a Bays Mountain Park Association assistant, said the park can also accept bread bags, Ziploc bags, dry cleaning bags or any type of pliable plastic, but not Saran wrap. The bags can be dropped off at the park’s gatehouse or at City Hall.
Bays Mountain Park is partnering with the Trex Company on the program — a manufacturer of wood-alternative decking and railing products. The park collects the bags, drops them off at Kroger’s (one of two grocery stores in Kingsport partnering with Trex) and then the bags are sent off to Trex.
“It’s all based on the honor system. We’ll call Trex and let them know we dropped off (7,000 bags) Once we get (10,000) turned in, they’ll send us a park bench,” Keeler said.
Last week, Bays Mountain received two such benches, which according to Rob Cole, volunteer coordinator for the park, will likely be used in the Nature Center but ultimately could be used outside or along the hiking trails.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt that this is a great example of how recycling truly works,” Cole said. “This is probably the most tangible thing I’ve seen in awhile — plastic bags being used to make composite wood decking that is in turn turned into a sturdy park bench.”
Stacy Jerrell, office assistant at Bays Mountain Park, said she learned of the Trex program from the Lee County school system, which had collected plastic bags to acquire a free bench for one of its schools. Jerrell said the park is partnering with Keep Kingsport Beautiful to expand the program, partnering with the Kingsport Area Chamber of Commerce to put bins in all city schools, and at various industries such as Eastman and Domtar.
“With our budget we can’t afford to buy a lot of benches, and this is an easy way for us to improve the park and do it under budget,” Jerrell said. “It’s something people can see for their efforts and something that will be around for a while.”
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