Using bottles to make usable SUPs
Rather than spending thousands of dollars on a stand up paddle board, Nathalia and Thiago Cagna have an earth-saving, and much cheaper, alternative.
The pair can make a paddle board out of 93 plastic bottles, old CDs, left over pipes or bamboo, an EVA mat, dry ice, and glue.
And they’re showing how it all fits together at the Nga¯ motu Beach Seaside Market, where they also invite people to have a turn and offer other sustainable activities and advice.
‘‘We are in a city that has the sea - so why not reuse bottles to make something to enjoy the sea?’’ Nathalia said.
‘‘A board, it’s expensive, so you can have a nice one that’s more stable than the normal one, and made with plastic bottles that usually go to the rubbish.’’
Fifty of the 2.25 litre bottles have a small piece of dry ice put inside them before theyare joined together with glue and 43 other connectors - bottles with their top and bottom cut off.
‘‘You have to pump air inside the bottle because the bottle should be full of air,’’ Nathalia said.
‘‘The easiest way to do this is with dry ice. You put a small piece of dry ice inside and close. That’s it. In two minutes the bottle is hard.’’
The CDs are used as fins beneath the board, the pipe is for strengthening and the mat is to stand on.
The Cagnas are originally from Brazil and became inspired when they visited an eco-friendly hostel in Wellington.
When they got back to Brazil they looked into sustainable tourism and created a website that listed sustainable accommodation and what actions they were taking. This could be anything from solar panels to energy-saving water heating techniques.
The pair then came across a man who was making the stand up paddle boards and wanted to share his wisdom.
‘‘He was amazing, he’s travelling around Brazil with his wife, teaching people how to make them - and he taught us how to too.’’
They haven’t been able to set up another website with New Zealand accommodation, but are looking into it.
In the meantime they teach people how to make vases with reusable materials and run their Brazilian website.
‘‘We are doing these to use our spare time to make something that’s good,’’ Thiago said.