If you’re like me and my husband, you have plastic bags multiplying like rabbits in a cupboard in your kitchen.

If you’re like my mom, you have them forming a volcano on the floor of your hall closet. Occasionally, the volcano erupts when you open the door.

If you’re like my grandmother, your plastic bags are neatly tucked into a sleeve that your sister made for you out of some old calico dresses, hanging from the inside of your hallway closet.

If you’re like just about everybody, you sometimes use these bags to carry your lunch or take out a little bit of trash. But the bags are accumulating much faster than you can reuse them.

That’s just one of the many good reasons to support recycling drives such as were held last Saturday on America Recycles Day.

Besides keeping plastic bags out of our landfills and rivers — or cupboards and closets — these recycling drives can turn old plastic bags into new plastic bags or into new usable items.

For example, the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America at Nansemond River High School, led by teacher Sally Karadeema, has been turning plastic bags into crocheted mats for the homeless. It takes about 500 plastic bags to make one mat, so the club needed 2,500 bags to meet its target of five mats.

The America Recycles Day drive also accepted some other items folks don’t always think about recycling, including old batteries, unused cell phones and dried-up ink cartridges. Activities such as storytime also were planned, since the drives were held at libraries.

“It was a really successful drive, and the community came out to show their support,” Keep Suffolk Beautiful chairwoman Kathy Russell said. “We had local high school students taking selfies, homeowners excited to empty a closet full of plastic bags, and younger children who had a great time at story time. It was a lot of fun, and people were grateful for such events to help prompt them to do some extra recycling.”

Thanks to the folks who organized this drive and all who participated. Anyone who wants more information on how they can participate in the next drive or other earth-friendly efforts can call 514-7604.