Lions Donate Bench to Historical Society

By Katie Bisaro

The efforts to keep recyclable plastic out of landfills and instead turning it into benches that benefit the local community continue as the Warwick Lions Club donated its fourth bench to the Warwick Historical Society. The bench has been placed in Lewis Park in the heart of the Village of Warwick.

The ongoing recycling project, spearheaded by Lion George McManus, has been very successful. Trex, the maker of composite materials used for outdoor decking and furniture, has challenged communities to recycle plastic material. McManus has been diligently keeping track of bags of plastic that have been turned in to be recycled. For every 500 pounds collected, Trex will donate an “environmentally responsible” bench back to the community.

The Historical Society bench represents a total of 2,000 pounds of plastic that has been recycled just from Warwick alone. The first bench was donated to the Warwick Valley Community Center and two have been donated to the Village of Warwick.

Nora Gurvich, Director of the Warwick Historical Society, was pleased to accept the donation for Lewis Park. 

Accepted Recyclable Materials

The acceptable plastic material for recycling is that which comes into homes every single day: grocery bags, newspaper sleeves, dry cleaning bags, bread and produce bags, case overwrap (such as that around cases of water bottles, toilet paper bundles, or packages), sandwich and other resealable bags, bubble wrap, salt bags and cereal bags. 

All bags must be clean, dry and free of food residue. A filled 30-gallon garbage bag will hold approximately eight pounds of recyclable plastic.

Drop-off Points & Notification

Drop-off points for the plastic include Price Chopper on Rte. 94 – go around the right side of the building to get to the rear loading dock; Roe Brothers Lumber & Hardware, located at 65 Maple Ave. in the Village of Florida; and, soon, the A. W. Buckbee Center, 2 Colonial Ave., in Warwick. 

After delivery to one of the above locations, participants should contact McManus with the total that was dropped off by sending a brief email to mcmanus@warwick.net or calling 986-1681 and leaving a message. This is a very important step in the process as McManus tracks the accumulated weight towards the required 500 pounds.

More information can be found on the Warwick Lions website, www.warwicklionsclub.org or their Facebook page, www.facebook.com/Warwick-Lions-Club/.

The Warwick Lions Club donated a bench to the Warwick Historical Society (WHS) that has been placed in Lewis Park in the Village of Warwick. Seated, (from left) are: Nora Gurvich, Exec. Dir., WHS & Lion Carol Buchanan; (back row): Lions George McManus, Corey Bachman, Ryan O’Leary, Christine Adams, Kathy McManus, Hakimah Al-Zahra; & WHS President, MaryAnn Knight.