The gardening club is competing in a recycling competition organized by NexTrex, a company that repurposes used plastic, from Nov. 15 to April 15, in hopes of winning a bench made from plastic bags.

In the competition, high schools across the nation compete against other schools in the same student enrollment category. As of last year, Hebron had a student body of 3,655 students, and the club will compete against other schools with at least 1,501 students.

“There’s a lot of plastic around our area,” gardening club co-sponsor Tricia Whisonant said. “A lot of plastic and chemicals aren’t good for you; it takes a long time for [them] to [degrade]. [Recycling] is good for the environment.”

If the club wins the competition, they originally planned to have the bench placed in the newly-constructed garden. However, due to student parking construction which has delayed the garden construction, they are reconsidering the location.

“We’ll probably put it outside against the building near the cafeteria entrance,” co-sponsor Kelly Carney said. “If we put it there during [the] spring, the kids and the teachers can sit there and wait for their buses.”

While the building of the garden is on hold, the club is learning from guest speakers and the officers are planning future fundraisers to buy garden supplies.

“The garden [has not been] built, [so] we’re [having] a bunch of gardeners come to the school and teach us the basics,” gardening club officer Alexia Williams said. “[To raise money], we’re going to be selling [customizable] bricks to the school [that] will go to the garden.”

Club sponsors received three bins that they have placed near rooms 2340, 2445 and 1605. Every month, the plastic is weighed and dropped off at a participating store. As of Feb. 7, they have collected 53 pounds. Next year, Carney hopes to re-enter the competition, but get more bins and make more people aware of the collection.

“Plastic is not going away,” Carney said. “If we get to a place where it can be reused into something sustainable and usable, then we’re leaving space for actual things that need to be in the landfill. [If] you can just put your bags in the white box at school, that is just one tiny little thing that you can do to help future generations.”