Gail and Tom Fraioli know how to turn discarded plastic into a treasured bench.
Barbara Barr Bengen
Let me take you down memory lane 57 years to 1967 and the Academy Award-winning movie The Graduate. In his critically acclaimed film, young Dustin Hoffman plays recent college graduate Benjamin Braddock. To celebrate Ben’s graduation, his parents throw a cocktail party. A friend of Ben’s parents, Mr. McGuire, pulls Ben aside at the party to tell him just one word of advice: Plastics! And the rest is history!
In this 57-year-old movie, plastics were meant to represent a cheap, low-quality, lackluster life. But it turns out that 57 years later, in many respects, Mr. McGuire was right. The industry has developed into everything from heart valves and furniture to clothing and multitudes of items created on a 3-D printer. In so many ways, plastic is benefiting mankind. But then, there is the dark side of plastics.
To help eliminate waste plastics, Gail and Tom Fraioli introduced this special project to the Rotary Club of SaddleBrooke. We are collecting discarded plastic to turn into park benches. You may be shocked by all the plastic you have in your house that can go from trash to a treasured place to sit in nature.
We are collecting the following:
• Plastic bags
• e-commerce mailers from places like Amazon, etc.
• Plastic bags for frozen foods (cleaned)
• Meat wrap (cleaned)
• Produce bags and wrap (cleaned)
• Ziploc and storage bags (cleaned)
• Bread bags
• Cereal bag liners
• Ice bags
• Newspaper sleeves
• Dry cleaning bags
• Bubble wrap
• Case overwrap
Would you like to help? We are collecting plastic each Thursday at noon at our meetings at the Ranch House Ballroom at SaddleBrooke Ranch. Or touch base with a member of the Rotary Club of SaddleBrooke. You can also reach us at:
• Website: saddlebrookerotary.com
• Phone: 520-404-5712
• Email: [email protected]
This is just one of the many projects of the Rotary Club of SaddleBrooke. From supporting the programs of the Community Center in Oracle, working at the food bank, supporting our local schools and students, building houses in Mexico, serving seniors and those sick at home, providing clean water for schools in Nogales, to packing food bags at IMPACT of Arizona, clothing poverty-stricken students, and cleaning up roads in Oracle and Catalina, these Rotarians are having fun while making a difference.
What is Rotary? Rotary is made up of your friends and neighbors who have fun working together to make the world a better place. Rotary is the world’s largest volunteer organization and is found in more countries than the Red Cross, Starbucks, or McDonald’s. Together with our friends, we are working to make a difference and change lives.
The Rotary Club of SaddleBrooke is an award-winning club. We meet on Thursdays at 11 a.m. for lunch at the Ranch House at SaddleBrooke Ranch. Next, we meet in the ballroom, followed by an educational program or speaker. Rotary is open to those who live and work in SaddleBrooke, SaddleBrooke Ranch, and the surrounding communities. For more information, check out saddlebrookerotary.com or contact Diane Demeroutis at [email protected].