Spring 2022 Inspire Discovery

Bottle Cap Recycling and Garden Bronze Award Project

Issue: Bottle cap recycling program was not being maintained

Root Cause: COVID-19

Project Idea: Fox Elementary School has a plastic bottle cap recycling program, where students collect bottle caps and the caps are turned into useful products such as picnic tables and benches through a collaboration with Green Tree Plastics. Last year, the school was falling behind in its bottle cap sorting. Girl Scouts stepped up to help sort and weigh over 900 pounds of bottle caps. The caps were used to create raised garden beds and a bench. The girls assembled the raised beds and installed them and benches on the grounds at Fox Elementary. The girls lined the beds with weed blocker, filled the beds with compost, and planted flowers so that teachers and students can enjoy the garden, or use it as part of their science lessons.

restrictions caused the program to fall behind and no one was managing the donations.

Eliminating the Root Cause: Previous donations were sorted by the troop, weighed and turned in to get the program back on track.

Measurement of Success: Cap donations were all measured and weighed, garden beds were purchased and installed at the school

Sustainability: Students and teachers can benefit from the garden beds, not just something pretty to look at but also an option for teachers to use with science curriculum.

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