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VLM Green Teens – Sleeping Mat Project

December 17, 2020

From Plastic Bags to Sleeping Mats – VLM Green Teens Deliver

Project enhances conservation effort and supports Salvation Army

Newport News, VA (December 17, 2020) – A new generation of active conservationists and community leaders have taken the plastic challenge. The Virginia Living Museum Green Teens have embarked on an upcycling project, transforming recycled plastic bags into sleeping mats.  The mats will be presented to the Salvation Army on December 20th at 2pm at the Museum.

 

Each VLM Green Teen is responsible for creating and leading a conservation-based project or initiative. The team is passionate about plastic waste reduction and restoration ecology (especially riparian and marine). Jasmine Stolz of BSA Troop 205 leads this upcycling initiative as part of her Eagle Project through the Green Teens Program. She will be one of the first female Eagle Scouts in the Colonial Virginia Council and part of the inaugural class of female Eagle Scouts nationally.

 

The Green Teens acknowledged an increase in plastic bag usage in our local area since the onset of COVID restrictions, and decided to focus their attention on mitigating the issue. The bags are given a second life as “plarn” (plastic yarn) and then through the talent of knitting and crocheting, the bags become a new mat.  Each mat weighs 3 – 6 lbs and upcycles 500-700 bags each. The teens recruited local crafters to knit and crochet the mats, totaling 500 hours of work.

Twenty (20) mats will be presented to Major Jim Spencer of the Salvation Army on Sunday December 20th at 2:00pm at the Virginia Living Museum.

 

Follow the VLM Green Teens on Instagram: @vlmgreenteens

The Museum is located at 524 J. Clyde Morris Blvd., Newport News, I-64, exit 258A. For more information visit thevlm.org or call 757-595-1900. You can also find the Museum on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The Museum is closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, December 24 and 25 and New Years Day, January 1, 2021.

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