At sea there is no glass or wood
The theme today may not even seem directly linked to sharks, but it certainly is, as will be seen at the end.
Let’s talk about the so famous Rs, known to many, propagated by a few and actually put into practice by even fewer people. So let’s look at glass bottles and wooden crates and pallets through the glasses of the Rs, Recovering material that will go to landfills, Reusing when still usable in its entirety and Recycling when necessary, thus acting to Reduce the consumption of new products and hence the Reduction in new waste disposal.
The subject is so vast that it cannot be exhausted only in this post, so let’s go by parts! Today we will talk about wooden crates and bottles or glass jars.
Yes, because there is a huge part of the glass bottles in the industry today that are for single use, such as long neck beers, unlike most 600ml beers, practically all wine bottles and even a good part of the juice bottles. These enter your house once, in a bar or restaurant, and after use they are thrown away. Just like when we go to the fair or market to buy fruits, vegetables or vegetables that were displayed on the shelves, these came in wooden crates, which most of the time are not reused, and like the bottles, they end up in the trash after a single use.
Rivers flow into the sea: Water, dirt, pollution and garbage!
It is at this point that we are going to enter here today, not only complaining about these materials, which are now called garbage, could very well go to a public dump, or private container to be placed on the street for collection. And even so, it could be vandalized, in search of aluminum cans for sale, for example, and end up on the street, being carried by a possible rain and ending up in urban rivers. And where do rivers flow? That’s right, at sea!
At this point we will try to interrupt this cycle, preventing glass bottles and wooden crates from going to waste. And what to do with them?! Here we will give you some suggestions for yourselves to realize these Rs, or to help by subsidizing and buying the products produced by the Divers For Sharks volunteers, encouraging them to continue Reducing, Recycling, and even Recreating new non-disposable products!
All profit will go to the Sharks
Divers for Sharks is a not-for-profit campaign, with no institutional subsidies or sponsorships, depending on your donation and fundraising costs, as well as the sale of products donated by affiliates, with the profits allocated to the cause of the sharks. And for that we have our little shop here on this site!
What we are going to talk about now is the products that can be produced with the bottles and wood collected. This post is not intended to be a workshop tutorial, as too many details, and even safety procedures to be adopted, would make it very long and tiring. We will therefore present the ideas, briefly show the production processes and show the products produced by our volunteers displayed for sale in our shop.
Glass bottles: cut sand comes to new life
The glass is made from the basic mixture of silica sand, sodium and calcium. The material goes through several processes, being melted in ovens at very high temperature, molded, cut and eventually painted and such, and only then becomes the wine bottle we buy in the market.
This process may seem simple, but it requires excavation and extraction of sand and minerals, consumption of large amounts of energy, which is not always generated cleanly, and water consumption both in the production and in the sterilization of everything to be taken to the consumer .
And all this to be used only once and discarded not always correctly. Pity, waste and ecocide (more on this topic shortly). Well, join Divers For Sharks and help stop this part of the vicious cycle of marine litter.
Let's have some action here!
As Captain Paul would say, and what could be considered the motto of activism, Divers for Sharks is doing its part in every way it can. You can do so much more with your help and support here. And if you want to help in any way other than as a member, you can help at the workshop, if you live in Rio de Janeiro with access to the Tijuca neighborhood. You can help either by collecting bottles and wine, sparkling wine and longnecks, washing, removing the labels or fair crates and pallets, disassembling, removing the nails and cleaning the wood and then delivering it to our workshop and/or participating in the cuts, assembly and painting of the pieces to go to our online store or even picking up ready-made pieces and taking them to events or selling directly to relatives and friends. Or buying these pieces to give as gifts for Christmas and birthdays to come.
And so we are going to reduce consumption, the need for new inputs and reduction of waste from single-use items.
Even better if you have artistic gifts and can help us create new pieces for our store to raise funds for the actions. Inspiration and ideas can be found easily here on the Pinterest network.
Cup pot that turns into candle
Separate that beautiful bottle of wine from the party that just ended, wash, dry and prepare to measure, plan and cut it. You can see here on Google the different ways to cut a bottle. I use a diamond scriber base at home to mark then cut into a resistant refractory.
Once the bottle has been cut and properly sanded to remove any sharp surfaces, we can have a glass, a candle, a bathroom or office pot, and anything else your imagination allows! With the top of the bottle, we can once again cut it in two parts, having a mini shot glass and a curved base for a wall or table candle holder.
Fair box does not turn into garbage
As for the wood of the fair boxes, they usually don’t go to our house with something to be used and then throw them away, but the market, fair or street vendor that sells fruit and vegetables for you will discard these boxes and they will go to the trash. , often ending up in dumpsters on the street, they can easily end up in rivers or dumps, which is not good either.
And it is precisely at this time, when I walk through the streets near my house, that I see the boxes lying around the corner, often waiting for the garbage truck to pass, that I choose the boxes I will need, depending on the width, length and thickness of the wood , take it out of the trash and take it home. Sometimes I get more than 4 or 5 boxes at once. Imagine if more people do this, the decrease in the volume of waste that we can generate together?
Once the boxes are chosen, be careful with nails and splinters when dismantling them. Afterwards, having already planned how they will be used and the objects to be built, once again carefully sawing and sanding the wood following the plan. For this you don’t even need many tools, a hammer, wedge, saw and sanding sheets are enough to spend, but without forgetting gloves and goggles for your safety.
For the Oceans, the sky is the limit!
If you want to help and have a workshop or work with woodworking machinery, you can help Divers for Sharks a lot by donating a square saw, bench saw, circular saw, belt sander, grinder, orbital sander and grinder. Get in touch here and let us know what equipment you can donate. Remember that a good saw, pliers or sandpaper will also help. There is no donation or small help, all make a difference and will be very welcome!
So now it’s time to give fins to your imagination and let the sharks inspire in the most diverse creations that can be born from the combination of these cut bottles with the treated wood of the fair crates and pallets. In my house, before thinking about buying a utensil or furniture, I always think about whether it’s possible for me to make something with recycled material. And I can often do it! As the mini Bar / Wine holder below, which I will give as a gift to my sister. All made with leftover wood from works in my building.
Wine helps sharks
Divers For Sharks has a partnership with Cave’D’or Bistro and DocWine Import, not only selling certain special wines with part of the profit going to the sharks, but also taking bottles, corks and other inputs for Recycling and production of the handcrafted products that we sell in our Shop. It’s @docwine and @cavedorbistro helping sharks through environmentally responsible attitudes. And as the owner of Cave, Reinaldo, says: “If the land and water give us gifts as important as food and as tasty as wine, the least we can do is give back by protecting our planet! And the oceans are our biggest area!” and Murillo, from DocWine: “Every good diver, who follows the example of the Biggest among them, Jaques Cousteau, knows the wonders and the importance of the oceans and a good wine!”
And then finally these are some of the products produced with recycling and bottles and wood sold in the Divers For Sharks store. Stop by, choose yours and help reduce the waste on the planet and the sharks to continue living in our seas!
So enjoy now and visit the Diver for Sharks Store and see these first handcrafted products made with all the love by our volunteers and with profit donated to the cause of the Oceans.