The Recycle Raft
Have you ever wondered the possibilities of what recycling could do? Just to prove that the limits are need endless I built a raft out of 100% recycled material using grease jugs from the local cafe’s of Confluence PA, wood pallets from the local stores, and other donated goods such as rope and material from Riversport School of Paddling. One of the things that was pretty neat that I got to meet all the local managers of the two towns I collected from. I would simply go in, buy something small and ask for the manager, when he or she got there I would tell them about the project that I was working on for Dirtball Clothing and about how they are a green company and about how the project I was working on was made of 100% recycled material with a purpose of showing people the possibilities of recycling. Nearly every manager was stoked on the idea and happily donated material except for one company but I’m not going to mention names! The process of collecting the jugs was somewhat tedious because the cafe’s would only go through one or two jugs a week so it took nearly a month and a half of collecting the jugs from them but I tell you what, I got to know all the cafe managers quite well! The wood pallets was pretty wild too, simply because I had to strap them down to my little neon that is on its last leg with a nickname of the “Ghetto Roller.”
One of the Loads of Wood Pallets
The actual building of it was an experience of its own! Finding out how to make this workout took a good amount of consideration on the drawing board. Questions such as how much floatation do I need from the jugs? how will I fit it all together? What can I put on the bottom to keep the jugs from puncturing? and many other questions…
The actual building of it was even more of an experience because I tell you what, you would never ever guess how many nails are in wood pallets over the cycle of them being repaired and such. I would drill bore holes for the aluminum tent poles only to find out that there were nails inside the wood but no physical evidence of how it got in there! As for the nails that were there, well, my tool of choice to get them out was a pair of pliers because crowbars and
The Inner Workings of the Recycle Raft
hammers would simply break the heads off the 4 inch nails every time so I had to pull those suckers out by hand! Safety was also a concern with all those nails every where so even being the invincible 17-year-old that I am, even I was wearing boots and safety goggles!
After all the bolts were drilled in, poles hammered in place, and jugs tied down it was time for the maiden voyage…
Lucky for me Riversport School of Paddling let my use their van and trailer to transport the beast so me and my friend Rob loaded it up and we had Rachel as our Driver, we drove about ten miles to our destination turning heads the whole way. We got to the put in and then it was time to do
The Recycle Raft Loaded for the Maiden Voyage
something I forgot about… Carrying the 100-pound, un-collapsible raft through the forest thicket to the river… We had to work as a team to maneuver this thing through the woods! We eventually got to the river and Rob was able to shoot photos while Rachel was able to shoot video… Unfortunately for me, Rob was going to be in the raft with me so it would be easier to paddle but the planner photographer couldn’t make it which made this even more of an adventure!
So as we put it into the water the three of us held our breath to see what would happen. Would it float like I swore it would? or would it sink like the titanic like many were saying it would? For once the brain of the 17-year-old teenager prevailed as the raft floated clean out of the water even with me sitting in it! Then my R-1 (rafting with one person) practice came into play… It was an R-1 trip to remember because the raft would want to go in every which way no matter where you sat on it but thanks to Jim Thorpe River Adventures it was a successful trip!
The Recycle Raft Going Down the River
It wasn’t just Jim Thorpe River Adventures training that helped though, if you look close at the pictures the black armband is actually a waterproof ipod case from H2O Audio and I tell you what, having a waterproof ipod and headphones is awesome!
Then it was time for the trip back through the woods to the van again and it was way worse than the way back because I was so tired already and the raft went from 100-pounds dry, to 200-pounds wet! Me and Rob got it through and then it was a nice grassy plain to the van… We did it!
This is a story about how what many would say is impossible turned possible with some determination. A lot of it to show that everyone was wrong but also to show how
Me and Rob Carrying the Recycle Raft back to the Trailer
recycling isn’t always about just dropping off you cans at a center, but going out there and doing something! My inspiration was just looking at a grease jug from my local cafe and thinking,”Wow, there’s gotta be something cool I could do with those” So what will yours be? and remember, even when your project is done, if you just toss it then you’ve just ditched the whole purpose of recycling so break it down and then drop off you cans or whatever materials you used and one day that can that once went down a river on a maiden voyage will be in someone’s can of tuna with a story behind it!
The Breakdown of the Recycle Raft
I’d also like to give a shout out to Dirtball Clothing for also contributing to the planet going green, their clothes are 100% recycled material and they have some great designs. Dirtball Clothing is so much about recycling and going green that not only are they a 1% for the Planet Member but they will also give you 20% off your next order if you return your old Dirtball Clothing back to them instead of just tossing it! The t-shirts are also super fresh in the sense that not every shirt has a big logo on them but rather a great big piece of artwork that really separates their shirts from the rest!
Below is a list of the total amounts of material recycled and afterlife of each:
- 34 Grease Jugs (dropped off at recycling center)
- 8 Wood Pallets (used for campfire wood)
- 10 Aluminum Tent Poles (dropped off at recycling center)
- 3 Spools of String (given to Riversport School of Paddling)
- One Sheet of Shipping Fabric (super durable material) (being used to protect grass at a summer snowboard park)
All the Companies That Had an Association With the Recycle Raft
I can see you were keeping busy out there. Hippie
You made me a believer–I’m selling my offshore fishing boat & making a new one out of old milk jugs & using old retired raft paddles for propulsion. I’ll launch it at Riversport & paddle the Yough, Ohio, Mississippi, Gulf, and up the coast to Chincoteague so that i don’t have to use fossil fuels in order to get to the ocean! WON’T HAPPEN, but congratulations on your project.
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Awesome raft! Great idea!