Build-a-Bench | Pull up a seat, neighbor

How it works

Three steps from bottle cap to bench.

Collect for 30 days.

Your office runs a bottle cap drive. Every cap counts toward your bench, so people who can't make the cleanup day still play a part.

Go plastic fishing.

Your team joins A Cleaner Planet's crew for a cleanup day on a Miami shoreline. Gloves on, buckets out.

Get your bench.

Plastic Fisherman sorts the plastic by color, shreds it to 4 mm flakes and presses it into a bench with your name on it.

Our goal: one benchAbout 19,000 caps Estimate

Office cap driveCleanup day

A backless bench made of marbled grey, white and black recycled-plastic beams

BUILT BY THE NEIGHBORS ATYour Company

48 x 16 x 21 in. Made from 84 lb of recycled plastic.

What your company gets

A bench you can sit on, and a story your team was part of.

A recycled-plastic bench, 48 inches long, made from plastic your team collected, with your name on the plaque.
A team day outdoors, run by people who do this every week.
A 30-day office challenge that brings in everyone, not only the people at the cleanup.
A seat in the installation: rows of finished benches facing the machines that made them, under bottle-cap art by local artists, the caps left exactly as they were found.

The price

Two ways to sponsor.

"Plastic is free; it is everywhere. If you do this right, it can serve an environmental purpose, an economic purpose and a social purpose."Rodrigo Butori, Plastic Fisherman

Sponsor the event

$6,000

A full Build-a-Bench day for your team, and everything it takes to give back.

A guided cleanup day on a Miami shoreline for your team
Gloves, bags and buckets for every volunteer
A 30-day office cap drive, with collection bins for your office
Your custom recycled bench, with your name on the plaque
Photos of your team's day to share

Sponsor the event

Sponsor a bench

$2,000

Sponsor one bench at a Build-a-Bench event. Volunteers do the cleanup, and the bench carries your name.

Sponsor a bench

Why caps

From your office to a bench.

Bottle capCollected at work and on the shore

SortedBy color and type

ShreddedInto 4 mm flakes

PressedInto recycled beams

Your benchWith your name on it

How big is a bench?

One full cleanup bag10 to 20 lb

One bench84 lb

One bench takes about 4 to 8 full bags. One cleanup is sometimes not enough, so the office cap drive matters.

Why caps, not bottles?

CapsHDPE. Melts at a low temperature with almost no fumes. Safe for a local workshop.

Water bottlesPET. Melts at around 500°F and gives off fumes. The workshop doesn't use it.

Taxes and receipts

You sponsor a registered nonprofit.

Two 501(c)(3) nonprofits

Plastic Fisherman Miami Inc (EIN 41-5190523) and A Cleaner Planet Operation Corp (EIN 92-2474953) are both registered with the IRS as 501(c)(3) organizations.

A written receipt

You get a receipt for your sponsorship. Because your company receives a bench, the receipt states its value. Under IRS rules, the deductible part of a gift is generally what you paid minus the value of what you received.

Ask your tax adviser

Whether your sponsorship counts as a charitable gift, a business expense for team building, or some of each depends on your company. We'll send the paperwork your adviser needs.

This is general information, not tax advice. Source: IRS Publication 1771.

Who we are

Two Miami nonprofits, one loop.

A Cleaner Planet

Runs cleanup operations for kids, schools and companies around Miami, and collects bottle caps through its cap campaign. Founded by Daniela Vecchione and Mike Jeffery.

Plastic Fisherman

Began as fish made from beach plastic, posted on Instagram, and now runs a workshop in Miami that turns caps into furniture for schools, communities and homes. Rodrigo modified an open-source Precious Plastic machine so it takes plastic of every kind and size. Founded by Rodrigo Butori.

Why we build benches

"About 99.9% of what we separated went to landfill. We were just moving plastic from the ocean to a mountain of plastic on land."

Rodrigo Butori, on sending sorted plastic to recycling before the workshop

Volunteers gather for a cleanup in a Miami park

Volunteers with full cleanup bags and buckets

A box of collected bottle caps in every color

From past cleanups. Photos: A Cleaner Planet and Plastic Fisherman.

See a cap become a bench.

Students visit the workshop most weekends. Come and see the machines before you book.

Book a workshop visit

Questions sponsors ask

Before you take it to your team.

Do all of our people have to come to the cleanup?

No. The 30-day office cap drive lets everyone take part. The cleanup day is for whoever can make it.

Why bottle caps and not bottles?

Caps are HDPE, which melts at a low temperature with almost no fumes. Water bottles are PET, which needs much higher heat and gives off fumes, so the workshop doesn't use them.

Can we visit the workshop first?

Yes. Students come most weekends. Pick "Visit the workshop" in the form and we'll find a time.

How many people can we bring, and where is the cleanup?

It depends on the site and the date. We'll plan both with you on the first call.

Who keeps the bench, and when is it ready?

We'll agree where your bench lives and when it's delivered on the first call.

Is our sponsorship tax-deductible?

Both partners are registered 501(c)(3) nonprofits, and you'll get a written receipt that states the value of the bench you receive. How it's treated depends on your company, so check with your tax adviser.

Can we do this every quarter?

We'd love that. Tell us in the form and we'll plan a season with you.

Book a Build-a-Bench

Pull up a seat. We'll do the rest.

"When you see that plastic become a bench, you think: there is hope, we can do something with this."Rodrigo Butori

Tell us a little about your team. Daniela or Rodrigo will be in touch to pick a date.

You just pulled up a seat.

We'll be in touch to pick a date. In the meantime, start saving bottle caps.