HELP US TRAIN 10 PEOPLE TO TURN DISCARDED GLASS INTO BEAUTIFUL OBJECTS
The Issue: Did you know it takes hundreds of years for a glass bottle to decompose? In the lively tourist city of Cartagena, Colombia, people go out for dinner and drinks every evening, but until last year, there was no way to recycle glass bottles. Every single bottle went to landfill.
And despite the thousands of tourists visiting the UNESCO World Heritage city, unemployment is sky-high in many areas outside the main tourist centre.
Your donation can turn glass bottles into jobs on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. But how?
The Solution: Fundación Green Apple will be training and supporting 10 people to become artisans, entrepreneurs and environmental ambassadors. These talented locals will learn how to turn discarded glass into beautiful objects and start working with socially-minded businesses to create a more equal and circular economy. It is just one of the projects we are running to turn waste into jobs and opportunities in Cartagena.
Recycling pioneers, collecting 13,000 glass bottles a month!
The team at Green Apple are recycling pioneers, dedicated to collecting and converting tons of glass bottles per month. Last year, we set up the first glass recycling operation on the coast of Colombia, creating 5 full-time positions in a town where the unemployment rate is 70%.
With just 5 people and 2 glass crushing machines, we convert 85% of the 13,000 glass bottles we collect from businesses every month into sand that can be used in construction, landscaping and more. But we want to have an even bigger impact.
Let’s convert the 15% of glass bottles we can’t crush, creating 10 more jobs at the same time!
In this, our second year, we’re creating more employment opportunities, which will also enable us to recycle 100% of the bottles we collect from the increasing number of environmentally-minded businesses in Cartagena.
We’ve partnered with expert local glass artist, Emil Marún, who has over 20 years’ experience working with glass, and a wonderfully warm heart. He’s one of very few master glass artists in Colombia and he wants to share the skills he learnt from his father, so the art of professional glass-working doesn’t die out.
Master glass artist, Emil Marún and our Operations Director, Jenny during a meeting with the local artisans:
What do we plan to do?
Emil will run a one-month glass art course for ten creative local people. He'll teach them a number of techniques to convert glass bottles into useful objects and beautiful souvenirs.
With these new skills, the artisans can make a good living, while also promoting sustainable tourism and protecting our precious environment. Instead of using imported beads or shells and corals taken from the ocean, they will create art from previously unwanted glass bottles. And in using these bottles, they contribute to the reduction of dangerous waste that is blighting the gorgeous coast around Cartagena.
Where will all of this happen?
All of the participants for this course, live in the town of Bocachica. It’s only 30 minutes by boat from Cartagena, but in many ways, it’s a world away from the luxury that thousands of tourists see when they come to visit the UNESCO World Heritage city.
Bocachica is an under-developed town lacking paved roads, consistent access to utilities and proper waste management infrastructure. The village prides itself on its artisans and its rich cultural heritage, but unemployment is high. We estimate unemployment to be 70% or higher.
By donating to this project, you are contributing to the improvement of people’s livelihoods and our precious environment.
This is more than just an art course. This is positive change from the bottom – up!
Green Apple doesn’t simply want to deliver an art course. We will also be connecting these 10 people with local businesses who want to make a positive environmental and social impact, buying local upcycled products. We’ll be supporting the participants with business skills development and mentorship, long after the course is completed.
And when you make a donation, we commit to providing you regular updates on the impact your money will have on the people you’re sponsoring in the town of Bocachica.
One of our employees Giver, chatting to Milagros, one of the participants, about the upcoming course:
What difference does your donation make?
Your donation will:
- Give at least 10 people the skills and tools to create products from waste glass
- Create long-lasting sustainable employment opportunities
- Enable Green Apple to recycle 100% of the bottles we collect
- Make the circular economy a reality
- Reduce the environmental impact of tourism in Cartagena.
But it doesn’t stop there.
With your donation, after the course is completed, Green Apple will:
- continue to supply glass bottles to each artisan
- provide access to a kiln to work with hot glass
- facilitate introductions to local businesses who want to buy the artisans’ products and
- provide mentorship and business support.
Sponsor an artisan! Make a donation to the project, and you’ll have turned waste into jobs, while protecting the Caribbean coast. In less than 2 months, you’ll receive your first update on the impact that your money will make to our first 10 artisans.
From all of us here, muchas gracias!
Note: You can use either debit or credit card to make the donation.