By Carly Cutrara

Christopher Payton and Dan Renz will be creating a greenhouse with 2-liter plastic bottles (not Coca-Cola because of the shape) across from the preschool playground. The purpose is so students are able to garden during winter and so they are able to see a full plant growth cycle.

As of right now, the school has already collected 1,300 plastic bottles from citizens but they are still in need of 200 more. The plastic bottles will be stacked on top of one another and connected with a stick to form the walls, floor, and roof of the greenhouse. They will then be connected to planks of wood combined together to maintain the frame.

“The bottles are so tightly compact that they keep out rain, snow, and other outdoor elements, but they will let sunlight in to keep the plants alive,” said Payton

Payton and Renz hope to grow fruit and vegetables that are not in season at the time as well as some flowers, but mostly fruit and vegetables so students can eat healthy foods that they grew and put all their hard work in themselves.

The greenhouse is open to any student that wants to garden but will mainly be for students in Payton’s Developing Opportunities program. The students in the Developing Opportunities program will also rotate who waters the plants and maintains the garden.

Payton and Renz hope to have the garden completed in February after they receive the necessary amount of bottles needed. The completion process of the greenhouse itself will take two or three days.

“The point of using only two different kinds of materials is to keep the greenhouse as simple and environmentally friendly as possible. In the future of the greenhouse once we get the hang of it, we hope to continue planting garden beds and maybe eventually move on to fruit trees,” said Payton.