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Calabasas honors students who turned plastic film into benches; program says it has diverted nearly 5,000 pounds
Summary
The Environmental Commission presented the Carl Gibbs Environmental Excellence Awards to the student 'Bags for Benches' team, which staff and commissioners said has collected nearly 5,000 pounds of type‑2 and type‑4 plastic film—an effort that yielded Trex benches and inspired other schools and community partners.
The Calabasas Environmental Commission recognized student leaders behind the 'Bags for Benches' recycling program at its March 10 meeting, presenting the Carl Gibbs Environmental Excellence Awards to the original team and praising the program’s community partnerships.
Commissioners described the program’s origins and the students’ outreach and collection work at multiple community sites, including Calabasas High School, the senior center, Fazio’s Cleaners and retail locations such as Gelson’s and Albertsons. The city’s media team produced a short video shown at the forum and holiday events, and the students credited community partners—including Imperial Dade and Waste Management—for donating liners and logistical help.
Speakers at the meeting said the students initially set out to collect 1,000 pounds of plastic film in a year and are approaching 5,000 pounds collected to date; staff and commissioners converted that figure to an estimated bag count to illustrate scale (presenters described it as “around 500,000 bags kept out of landfill,” a rough extrapolation based on prior weight samples). The recycling was routed through a Trex/NextREX challenge that converts collected film into composite decking, earning benches for community locations.
Students and community partners described operational challenges—bins contaminated with non-plastic waste early on, the need for continuous volunteer pickup and education—and how the program overcame them through steady community engagement. Student speakers said the project’s most important lesson was simply starting and staying consistent: “small incremental positive changes, they compound over time,” one student told the commission.
Commissioners urged the program to expand student participation and to keep pushing for partnerships with other local schools; several commissioners volunteered to help arrange exhibit space for artwork connected to the program (Pencil to Planet) and to continue recognizing student contributions at future meetings.
What’s next: commissioners plan to maintain support through subcommittee work and outreach; staff and students will coordinate for bench placement and future drop-off logistics.
