I just thought about it when I actually had to deal with some. Yes, I found myself drinking water out of plastic bottles for the first time in ages - Hurricane Irene freaked me out and I gave in and bought some bottles just in case.
In our neighborhood I can collect them and bring them to my son's school who has a partnership going with a cosmetic company (click here for more info).
Google mentioned the program "caps can do" - you can ship your caps to them. Some Whole Foods markets have bins where they collect #5 plastics for companies like Preserve.
If you think about it, these caps can cause a lot of problems:
When just tossed, they take years and years to decompose. When thrown in the recycling bin (where they don't belong in most areas) they slow down the recycling process because pieces that don't match (plastic bottle #1 plastic and lid #5) have to be separated, or, if accidentally processed together, it can ruin the whole batch.
What little caps can do to wildlife is beyond belief. Just think about animals trying to eat them, polluting oceans and streams.
Best is to stay away from plastics altogether. Buy reusable water bottles, that's the biggest culprit.
The caps that you have to deal with, either recycle the right way or be creative with them.
Here are a few ideas:
1) Use as tiny picture frames
2) Paint and use them as checkers
3) Use for artistic purposes - to hold small amounts of paint etc.
4) Use for storage for tiny things (you could glue a bunch of caps to a wooden board)
5) If you have a lot of caps in different colors, get a big piece of cardboard and "write" your child's name with them - this could be a fun rainy day project.
If you have other ideas, please feel free to share
