A few years ago, a couple of locals decided to make a difference and try a new approach to the plastic dilemma. This led them to create PT Potential, a grass roots project aimed at reducing waste and maximizing community resources.  In practice, the plan is for PT Potential to process plastic using a shredder and then use a 20-ton press to turn it into something else.

The team had no problem collecting plastic lids and 6-pack carriers at monthly “Pop-Up Drop Offs”, held in the Co-op courtyard. In fact, the response was so positive that it quickly ballooned into a mountain of plastic, leading them to stop collecting any more lids until they could cope with the back log. Recently we got an update from PT Potential detailing their activities this past winter but noting that the storage facility is still full as the machines are not yet making products and moving plastic out.

Turns out that all the teammates have full time jobs and commitments that keep them from making progress on that mountain of lids. And that doesn’t look like it’ll change anytime soon. When they do have spare time, they say they’ll be ‘playing with their new machines’ and finding out if they can make any affordable and useful products.  

Until then they encourage us to think about how we can make a difference in our daily lives to use less plastic and participate in “more local, circular systems”.