Local organizations help Tri-Valley

Local residents may think they are discarding trash when they throw away plastic lids, but they are actually tossing aside useful flower pots.

The Fort Scott PRIDE program, in addition to several other local organizations, is collecting plastic lids to donate to Tri-Valley Developmental Services, 4305 Campbell Dr., to be recycled into flower pots.

According to a written statement provided by Tri-Valley Horticultural Therapist Barbara McCord, Tri-Valley is very sensitive to the earth's environment and believes that it is important for people to take steps to preserve it.

"Tri-Valley is very conscious about our environment and the fact that we as individuals are responsible for its improvement. Our Horticultural Therapy group has been actively participating in recycling plastic to be transformed into usable plastic pots for plant production."

The Horticulture Therapy group, which is led by McCord, is collecting small, hard plastic lids. Since the group is currently building a new greenhouse, the plastic lids will be recycled into new flower pots to be used in the new facility, McCord said.

McCord said that large-sized lids from aerosol cans, large jars etc. are not usable, as they are too big to fit in the extruding machine used to melt the plastic and create the four-inch plastic pots.

Fort Scott Middle School PRIDE sponsor Joyce Davenport said that her students have not yet begun to collect the lids, but they will be starting this collection process very soon. Davenport said that she hopes that parents will help support her students in their efforts to collect the plastic.

Fort Scott High School Pride sponsor Gabrielle Studer said that the high school has just begun collecting plastic lids to be used for recycling purposes. According to Studer, the high school has about 40 students who are participating in the PRIDE program this year.

PRIDE Chairwoman Dola Cress said that since the plastic lids are various colors, the color of the recycled pots is often unknown until it is created. Some of the pots will be multi-colored, she said.

The purpose of PRIDE, Cress said, is to promote volunteerism. She said that she hopes that this quality will instill itself within the students and continue to be a part of them throughout adulthood.