Hi everyone, my name is Alejandro Paz and we're trying to raise money for recycling glass into sand. Our main goal is to raise $50.000 so we can purchase the necessary machinery or equipment to start up our first sustainable glass processing facility. Glass is made from sand and our goal is to shred used bottles back to sand that can be used in construction, production of technology, landscaping, and even cosmetics.

Sand is the world's most consumed raw material after water and an essential ingredient in our everyday lives. With these new procedures, we plan to expand our capacity for recycling and our partnership to collect utilized glass before it reaches our landfills.

Today's problem:

Did you know that the U.S. produces 33% of the solid waste in the world and its population only accounts for 4,6% of the people on earth? New York alone produces 12.000 tons of trash per day, and only between 20-30% of it gets recycled. We are aiming to convert most of the glass into new products and commodities whenever possible.

What we've been doing so far:

Our company has been focusing on bringing these numbers down for the past 4 years, in a small scale, we gather and collect glass bottles from various sources to give them a second use. We’ve been creating handmade drinking glasses, vases and containers thus expanding the lifespan of empty wine, water and liquor bottles, but roughly 1/3 of these bottles are not utilized.

One day we came across an article describing the lack of sand in the world, the ongoing surge of demand for this natural resource has made it a scarce commodity by effectively recycling 90% of the glass collected we can return “a grain” of sand to our planet.

What we wish to accomplish:

With your help we plan to:

-From your donations, we will be able to invest in equipment to improve the processing method of shredding and filtering the glass particles.

- We can generate sand for eco-friendly projects, construction of buildings, repair roads, refilling parks and common areas, the possibilities are endless.

- Generate collaborative alliances in the recycling industry motivated by aiding our community and environment.

Struggling to make a difference:

At the moment, our company is working in a garage and a basement, and most of the processes of recycling glass are handmade and/or operated by us. We recollect bottles from various places, classify them by color, clean, cut and polish the new products.

We need to raise money for specific equipment that will help our operation be more efficient, and expand our range and capacity to fulfill the recycling demands that are necessary to make a meaningful impact in our community.

Why you should donate:

We’ve been working for the past 4 years on a small scale and now we want to take a new step forward to generate a more meaningful impact in our community´s recycling projects. By properly recycling glass we can turn it back into sand that can be reutilized in many different areas, reducing the impact of its shortage in our ecosystem and also decreasing the cost of local projects that can benefit our entire society.

It may seem like a small gesture, but by classifying glass and having more people involved in our new recycling proposals, we can slowly but surely positively impact our environment.