SORTING — From left, Peachtree resident Barb Heldman, volunteer Maggie Greathouse of East Liverpool, and Activity Director Rachel Bragg sort through the plastic received in the Pepperberry Suites’ collection toward the benches. Three hundred pounds of 2, 4 and 5 plastics are needed to make one eight-foot bench to be installed along the Orchards’ Monarch butterfly walking trail as part of the project. -- Contributed

CHESTER — One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. That definitely is the case with the Orchards’ most recent green project with a goal of collecting 300 pounds of bottle caps and lids to create benches for its Chester and East Liverpool campuses.

The Orchards is a senior care campus that provides skilled nursing, short- and long-term rehab, assisted and independent living opportunities in Chester and East Liverpool.

Through the ABC Promise program, Raven Woodburn, marketing and sales coordinator for the Chester campus, explained that residents will not only collect but sort and connect acceptable plastics, which include SPI codes of 2 (high-density polyethylene); 4 (low-density polyethylene) or 5 (polypropylene.)

The materials will be recycled into 8-foot-long benches for each of the Chester and East Liverpool campuses.

Woodburn stressed the importance of making sure the caps and lids are clean. Otherwise, they will not only not be accepted but also may pollute the whole batch, causing it to be declined.

Acceptable caps and lids (plastic only, bearing 2, 4 or 5) include those from milk jugs, creamers, medication bottles, hair spray, toothpaste, deodorant, applesauce, drinks, juice, shampoos and conditioners, cream cheese, spice, whipped topping, Pringles, mayonnaise, yogurt, peanut butter and coffee cans.

Woodburn explained that prescription caps need to be taken off the bottles, (any labels also removed) and bagged together separately.

While a variety of products are made from 2, 4, and 5 plastics, the following is a list of items that are not accepted for the Green project: Plastic bags, trash, paper, food containers, soap or lotion pumps, trigger sprayers, human or animal medical supplies, needle caps, K-cups, straws, plastic toys. (Never any metal or cardboard as well.)

Woodburn said there is a competition among buildings — Peachtree Inn, Pepperberry Suites, Orchards of Chester and Orchards of East Liverpool — to see who can collect the most caps and lids.

The ABC Promise partnership was a cap and lid program specifically designed for schoolchildren by other schoolchildren 14 years ago to inspire them to care about the Earth and green living. However, in 2020, more families and adult groups wanted to participate. So, the company opened the program up to them as well, explains the Greentree Plastics website, www.greentreeplastics.com.

If you would like to help with a plastic donation, call (304) 387-0101, extension 458 for Raven in Chester or extension 437 for Rachel in East Liverpool.