Public places

This project will teach children the power of recycling and math concepts such as sorting and weighing bottle caps that are used to make new benches, which will provide much needed seating for those visiting downtown, especially older adults children.

For several years, MainStreet Roswell collected, sorted and stored plastic bottle caps and container lids (see inset photo) for an effort it called "Bottlecaps to Benches." Once a significant number were collected, bags full of caps and lids were loaded onto a tractor trailer (top image) and driven to a Green Tree Plastics in Indiana, where they were exchanged for 30 benches (bottom image) made from recycled plastic. The benches were placed throughout the city's downtown, which is visited by well over 200,000 tourists a year. "Our summer in the Southwestern desert can be brutal with daytime temperatures reaching up to 112 F," notes Molly Boyles, a MainStreet Roswell board member. "Seating has always been lacking for those needing to take a break."