Port Macquarie schools recycle with Cafe Buzz to help Envision Hands campaign for prosthetic hands

Hastings Pre-School and Long Day Care Centre students have brought hundreds of plastic bottle top lids to a collection point at Cafe Buzz in Port Macquarie.

The lids are then forwarded onward to Melbourne, where they are made into prosthetic hands for children by social enterprise, Envision Hands.

Cafe Buzz owner Vicki Brady said they have been collecting lids for around four or five months.

"My husband heard about it and got online to talk to them about collecting. We now have boxes of lids at home, so they can be sent to Melbourne and be made into prosthetic hands," she said.

"It's all about recycling. As a cafe we are very environmentally aware and we recycle everything. We have a lot of milk and therefore a lot of bottle tops to recycle.

"We have been out to St Columba Anglican School and Hastings Preschool to collect theirs as well. We have about eight boxes of bottle top lids. I couldn't put a figure on how many are there exactly.

"It's really nice because otherwise these would go into landfill which doesn't help anyone. I think you have to try and do your bit for recycling, otherwise what hope has the world got?"

Three-year-old Morgan Marlowe who helped collect lids for Hastings Pre-School said she enjoyed the project.

"I've collected so many and I like collecting them. I like to collect things like leaves," she said.

Pre-school teacher Leah Roberts said students aged two to four-years-old were taking part and their families.

"They have been collecting since the start of the year and they have amassed hundreds of lids," she said.

"Besides playing with the lids, it's about recycling and sustainability. It's caring for the community. It's good for counting because the kids can count them, line them up and sort them into colours.

"We are going to continue into next year."

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