Zwaanendael Museum seeks plastic recyclables
The Zwaanendael Museum, located at 102 Kings Highway in Lewes, Del., is currently seeking donations of plastic bottles and bags that will be used to offset the purchase price of a recycled-plastic bench that will be placed outside the front entrance of the museum.
Receptacles for collecting the materials — one for plastic bottles and another for plastic bags — have been placed in the same location where the bench will eventually be located. People interested in helping the museum need only place their plastic items in the respective receptacle now through March 2021. The museum plans to “unveil” its new bench on Earth Day, April 22, 2021. For additional information about the project, contact the museum via e-mail at zmuseum@delaware.gov or by telephone at 302-645-1148.
Manufactured by Eco Plastic Products of Delaware, a Wilmington-based nonprofit that collects discarded plastic and converts it into useful and sustainable products, the museum’s park bench will be six-feet long and weigh 127 pounds. If the museum collects the weight of the bench in plastic recyclables, it will receive a $31.75 ($0.25 per pound) discount off the bench’s price tag while also supporting the goal expressed in Eco Plastic’s slogan “Saving the Oceans One Plastic Bag at a Time.”
The Zwaanendael Museum was built in 1931 to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the state’s first European colony, Swanendael, established by the Dutch along Hoorn Kill (present-day Lewes-Rehoboth Canal) in 1631. Designed by E. William Martin (architect of Legislative Hall and the Hall of Records in Dover), the museum is modeled after the town hall in Hoorn, the Netherlands, and features a stepped facade gable with carved stonework and decorated shutters. The museum’s exhibits and presentations provide a showcase for Lewes-area maritime, military and social history. The museum is administered by the Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs, an agency of the State of Delaware.
