Ecosurf: boards with recycled bottles
Ecosurf is an initiative of two Uruguayan surfers for the promotion of recycling and free classes for children from Maldonado
It has two objectives: to remove the plastic from the beaches and bring surfing and paddle surfing to children with free classes.
The initiative of friends Fabián Naya and Fabián Andino, two surfers who teach how to make boards with recycled bottles and promote these sports.A paddle surf board for children needs approximately 50 containers; one for adults takes between 100 and 110.
“For each board we are taking quite a out of the sea,” said Naya.
few bottles
The bottles are collected from the beaches, and with respect to the cost a conventional one costs US $ 2,000 and more; but a recycled one does not exceed the investment of US $ 100 between paint, glue and other materials.
“We want to bring people who do not have resources to what this sport is, which is super healthy.”
The trick to making the boards is sanding, which provides better buoyancy, even better than traditional boards.
The bottles must first be collected, cleaned and filled with compressed air. There are three options: leave them uncovered for a while in the freezer; put dry ice on it; or use an inflator and an old bicycle tube. The latter is the fastest and cheapest. Put the pick inside, inflate and then close ”
The bottles must be adhered with a polyurethane-based glue. And here comes the sanding. It is the way to “grip well.” Then a PVC pipe should be placed in the middle to give it greater stability. They can be bought or found in the dump trucks of construction sites.
A conventional board measures a little more than three meters; the recycled ones measure eight feet. And they float much more.
One of the goals of the surfers who created Ecosurf is to expand the network of students, and also plastic collectors.
Through their account on Instagram (@ _eco.surf) they answer the questions of anyone interested in making a surfboard or paddle surfboard on their own.
“We started out as the two of us almost two years ago but now we are generating a growing network of people who make their boards. The idea is that families join to keep the bottles at home ”
On average, nine tons of waste are collected every 10 kilometers of beach each week. And 75% of what is collected is plastic.
