Girl Scouts Recycle Plastic Into Benches

Long Islander News photos/Janee Law
 

By Janee Law
jlaw@longislandergoup.com

Members of the Huntington Station-based Girl Scout Troop 239 are working diligently towards their bronze award by collecting hundreds of pounds of plastic caps and lids to recycle and transform into park benches that will be donated to local schools.

“What we really wanted to do was use this project as a vehicle to help the leadership skills in our girls and also to educate not only the girls in our troop but also people in our community about the importance of recycling,” Christine Reilly, troop co-leader, said. “The message is that something that you might otherwise have thrown away can be recycled into something that can have a permanent and lasting effect.”

Collecting 1,200 pounds of plastic to assemble three benches, the troop has already gathered up 400 pounds for its first bench, which is currently in production at Green Tree Plastics in Indiana.

“We have hundreds of families collecting on our behalf, as well as several local businesses and schools in the South Huntington School District and several other schools as well, from Elwood Middle School and several schools in the Kings Park district,” Reilly, of Huntington, said. “The support has been unbelievable. People truly have gone above and beyond to support this effort and it truly is a community effort.”

With 26 girls ages 9-10 in the troop, several of the scouts were selected to make presentations to various classes in their schools to talk about the purpose of the project and the importance of recycling.

Kace Sperduti, 9, of Huntington Station, said that the experience has been fun and helped her develop her skills in teamwork and her knowledge to recycle more.

Throughout the project, members of the troop sort through the plastic caps and lids to make sure they’re acceptable, clean them, and put them in 55-gallon bags to be shipped to Green Tree Plastics, to be grinded down, melted and turned into a bench.

The first bench will be donated to Silas Wood Sixth Grade Center in Huntington Station. A ribbon cutting ceremony for unveil the bench is slated for April 21, the day before Earth Day.

In the midst of gathering up an additional 800 pounds of plastic caps and lids, Reilly anticipated that the other two benches will be complete by the end of the school year, with one bench to be donated to Maplewood Intermediate School in Huntington Station and the other donated to Birchwood Intermediate School in Huntington Station.

These three schools were selected because Silas Wood is where the troop has been holding its meetings for the past five years, while Maplewood and Birchwood is where members of the troop currently attend.

“We wanted them to be able to see these benches that they helped make every day as they go to school and take pride in that and to see it as a lasting reminder of the good that they were able to do,” Reilly said.

With that, Allie Lynde, 9, of Huntington Station, added that when the troop sorts through the bottle caps and lids, it’s exciting and fun.

“I really liked it because we’re making a bench and it’s going to go in front of our school,” she added. “We have fun doing it.”

Each bench will be 6 feet long and will be maroon to represent the district color. A plaque will be displayed on the front explaining that the bench was made from recycled plastic caps and lids donated by Girl Scout Troop 239. Another plaque will be on the back listing the sponsor who helped pay for the cost associated with billing this project.

Once the troop receives the first bench, which is slated to be complete April 3, they will assemble the plaques to its front and back.

The benches for the Maplewood and Birchwood schools will be used as buddy benches on the playground, where a student can sit if they have no one to play with to encourage other students to include them.

“There’s a lot of kids that for whatever reason don’t seem to fit in and could use a helping hand,” Reilly said. “Part of what girl scouts is all about, and ideally all students, is to make the world a better place. Reach out to your fellow students and make them feel included and be a friend. Don’t be a bully, be a friend.”

Donations of plastic caps and lids can be dropped off at any school in the South Huntington School District except for Walt Whitman High School.