Recycling Club collects pounds of plastic lids for new picnic table

A new picnic table made from plastic lids sits on the back porch of Alumni Hall, providing Lincoln Park students a comfortable place to gather while also supporting the Recycling Club’s environmental sustainability efforts.

Recycling Club members collected 570 pounds of caps and lids last year in exchange for the table through A Bench for Caps (ABC) Promise, a partnership program that recycles caps and lids to teach about caring for the earth and green living.

Jessica Ezop, club advisor, said the Recycling Club collected beyond its original goal of 550 pounds of caps — everything from water bottles, pop cans, and laundry bottles, to milk jugs, toothpaste, and coffee containers —plastic that would otherwise end up in landfills. They suffered a small setback when Ezop’s classroom flooded in the spring.

Over the summer, Ezop drove the sorted caps to Green Tree Plastics in Evansville, Indiana, a family-owned company that manufactures recycled plastic lumber. The company turns plastic caps into picnic tables and benches for school groups, community centers, scouts, and other organizations. A sticker of each location that donates goes on a map, and Ezop said there is a sticker for Midland, Pa.

With one picnic table accomplished, the project has gained attention and the club is continuing to collect caps. Ezop said more students and staff understand the goal and are working to help, with caps coming from many homes and businesses.

Club president Kylee Clark said each picnic table requires 550 pounds of caps to assemble so the new goal is to collect 1,100 pounds for two more tables. Some students started collecting caps over the summer and brought in loads.

“We are already off to a good start with almost 300 pounds,” Clark said.

Clark said one of her favorite things about the club is how everyone works together toward the ultimate goal: to help Lincoln Park become more environmentally friendly. The club is also involved in programs with the Pepsico Recycling company and Terracycle.

“Many schools barely recycle, if at all,” Clark said. “Forty percent of the average school’s waste is paper, so it is important to recycle. After all, there aren’t endless trees to cut down. They’ll run out eventually.”

Although paper is important, she said the club recycles several items including plastic, aluminum, dental care products, makeup products, batteries, ink cartridges and markers.

“Our goals as a club include reducing the school’s overall amount of waste, and encouraging others to recycle as well,” Clark said. Totals are tracked and updated on the club’s website.