Published: August 21, 2008 05:44 pm      

Make those bottle caps useful

I was appalled to read that the bottle cap drive to help cancer patients was a hoax. I first heard about the collection when I saw flyers at Sam’s Club asking for help saving the lids to offset expenses for chemotherapy patients. I got all my friends and family involved in saving, and I noticed boxes upon boxes of the lids at schools ready to be picked up by local Cub Scout Troops.

I’m pleased the hoax article in the BDT mentioned that the goodness of West Virginians is demonstrated in our willingness to take the time to save lids to help others, even if it turned out to be not helpful at all.

I believe when life hands you lemons, make lemonade, and I think we could apply this adage to our mass of plastic lids. West Virginians are known for our ingenuity. I want to encourage everyone who has been saving lids DO NOT TRASH THEM! I have a few suggestions for using them ...

Perhaps collectors all over WV could drill holes in the lids and string them together to form a chain. The chains could be used as garland to decorate Christmas trees in public places as a reminder of Mountaineer kindness and also of Cancer Awareness. If all of WV connected our chains together, we might get in the Guinness Book of World Records for the “World’s Longest Lid Line!” We could enlist youth groups and preschool classes to help with the project.

Maybe we could nail the lids to the side of a barn, kind of like a Mail Pouch ad, to create a giant lid mosaic mural. A geometry class or graphic art class could probably use graph paper to create an appropriate design. A huge American flag would look pretty, or perhaps a picture that coincides with a cancer prevention awareness campaign.

Another option comes from a craft show I watched on TV over a year ago. A crafter recycled plastic lids of all shapes, sizes, and colors, into gigantic flowers to use as yard art or garden sculptures. The designs were unique, weatherproof, and eco-friendly. They would look great in schoolyard flowerbeds or public parks. Maybe a group of crafters could even sell lid sculptures to raise money for the American Cancer Society!

Let’s use our thinking caps and make those bottle caps useful after all.

Jeanie Brown

Princeton, WV