Stop & Shop Donates Environmentally Friendly Benches to East Brunswick Each Bench Has Been Built Out of Recycled Plastic bags

Stop & Shop donated four environmentally friendly benches to East Brunswick that have been built from recycled plastic bags. The benches installed at the East Brunswick Municipal Complex, have been built utilizing 12,000 plastic bags that otherwise would have been discarded.

East Brunswick Mayor, Kevin McEvoy and other elected officials were joined by third graders from East Brunswick’s St. Bartholomew School, where the students are currently learning about Earth Day, the environment and the environmental issues caused by plastic bags.

Stop & Shop has embraced the concept of “Building with Bags”. When they are recycled, plastic bags can be re-purposed into plastic lumber that is used to make backyard decks and fences, playground equipment and park benches.

Stop &Shop has always been a big supporter of East Brunswick Community events, said East Brunswick Mayor Kevin McEvoy. “Earth Day presents itself as another example of East Brunswick and Stop & Shop working together. The recycled benches coming to our Municipal Complex are part of the Stop & Shop green initiative.”

Barbara Rebele of the East Brunswick Stop & Shop says, “Reduce, reuse, recycle has been the mantra among the environmentally conscious for the last 25 years. Stop & Shop is very pleased to be able to benefit the community and protect the environment at the same time."

When improperly disposed, plastic bags become harmful to the environment. Plastic bags can take many years to degrade and may release toxic chemicals into the soil if they are littered. They also can pose a threat to marine life that mistakes the plastic bags for food. With over one billion plastic bags used every day, that equates to about 4 bags for every person in the United States per day that need to be properly disposed.

“Recycling is an important “way of life” at St. Bartholomew School. It is of paramount importance for students to understand that even at a young age, their contribution has a local and global impact, said St. Bartholomew School Principal Ann Wierzbicki. “In the words of Pope Francis, “The Earth is an environment to be safeguarded, a garden to be cultivated.” As stewards of creation, we “must conserve the divine harmony that exists between creatures and creation within the logic of respect and care.” Seeing 12,000 plastic bags transformed into a beautiful bench inspires our students’ resolve to educate the community, abide by recycling rules, and broaden the scope of items currently recycled.”