Plastic Caps to Plastic Benches
On behalf of the library, I wanted to say thank you to the community for their overwhelming support of our plastic bench project.
If you are not aware, the library began a partnership and a journey with an organization called the ABC Promise Partnership in the fall of 2020 with the aim of collecting plastic caps and lids which ultimately will be melted down and extruded into benches made of the recycled material. If you did not know, the plastic that makes up caps and lids cannot be recycled with your average recyclable plastic. These plastic caps and lids would simply be discarded in the landfill. The ABC Promise Partnership strives to repurpose this plastic into something positive and useful in the community.
For months and months we have been blessed with donations from the community. The donated caps and lids were sorted and weighed by volunteers (thank you Interact Club at Dover High School, library staff, and community volunteers!) and transported to a plastics factory in Indiana.
At this time we have three benches made up of the donated caps and lids. I wanted to say thank you to the sponsors who made the financial commitment to make this project a reality.
Starting with Dover Rotary and the Dover Exchange Club and expanding into donations from private individuals who care about leaving the world a better place, we were able to secure funding for five benches which will be placed on library grounds and throughout the community.
This project was a perfect example of how a group of people with a shared vision and a shared passion can transform something negative into something beautiful and sustaining.
Thank you T-Valley!
-Jim Gill, Director