I am going to stand on my soapbox for a minute. As opposed to all of the other times I have as well. We live in a disposable society. We buy things and when we get tired of them we throw them away and our landfills are overflowing. I have heard it said that there is not a beach left in the world that does not have traces of human garbage washed ashore. We are all responsible for this. We say that our generation is leading the way in recycling but we are fooling ourselves. Our grandparents were the ones who recycled. My grandmother as an example used to wash out the plastic bags that milk came in and hang them over the sink on a little line to dry. She would then use them to freeze leftovers in. This was before the days of ziplock baggies. Food was preserved in glass jars and stowed away in a cold cellar that did not require any electricity. The farther back in history you go, the more recycling you discover. Things were simply to expensive to throw them out. We have this all wrong. If we want to make a positive impact, stop buying new things. Find creative ways to use the stuff you already have, and when it isn’t as shiny and new as it was when you bought it, find another use for it. If it is a little worn, turn it into something else, and when that wears away, use the leftovers again.
Okay, enough preaching. We have about 16 miles of used rope that came with Akupara. Of course all of it needs to be replaced as it is sun beaten, dirty, frayed and in some cases down right dangerous. And yet we dragged all 16 miles of it home and piled it up in the basement. Why? Because I have another use for it that’s why!
I spent 3 hours today on the kitchen floor, repurposing that old rope, and now we have 2 nice mats for Akupara. Not only do we have mats, but I also contributed to saving the planet a little bit by not going out and buying a fancy dancy Welcome mat from the nearest nautical jewellery store made most likely out of plastic. Ya they may not be perfectly white, and they may take a little while to soften out but, they make great mats! I mean come on, you wipe your shoes on them anyway!
So, my advice. Take 3 hours of your day and use those old sheets that were destined for the back of the rope locker only to be eventually thrown away and make something nice with them. You will be practicing skills that sailors have used for hundreds of years, you will gain a sense of accomplishment, you will end up with something useable, and you will save a little bit of room in the landfill.
Or if you really don’t want to be bothered, but you like the idea, send me your old sheets and I will make them for you, for a small fee of course. That way you will feel better because you spent some money. 😉
After taking these pictures I put both mats in the bathtub and they are soaking in dishsoap and javex to give them a good cleaning.