I have been developing “Bottles 2 Boards” since 2011. The initial goal was to devise a simple, easily repeatable method to manufacturing a product using only recycled bottles and a simple hydraulic heat press.
I worked with Waste 4 Life, an organization who gives opportunities to cartoneros in Buenos Aires. The cartoneros are a group of Argentinians who spend their nights collecting recyclables from others’ garbage to then sell to third party companies. The goal of this NGO is to help elevate this community who were devastated, specifically, by the financial crisis in 2001.
I devised a system to make a fully functioning skateboard deck with simple tools and molds that could easily be incorporated in Argentina and throughout the developing world. All you need to get started in the is the board itself, so providing a way and means to produce cheap and sustainable skateboards would help launch the sport on a global scale.
