With all the technological advances focused on “luxuries” like smart phones, fitness bracelets and the impending takeover of driverless cars, occasionally something pops up that tells me that there are at least a couple of folks out there thinking of universal uses for out of the box thinking.
Leave it to a brewery to come up with one of the most interesting innovations in recycling this consumer has seen in quite some time. Introducing DB Export’s Beer Bottle Sand Machine.
This New Zealand-based brewery (owned by Heineken but in this case I won’t hold it against them) has absolutely hit it out of the park (IMO) with the creation of this thing. Looking just slightly larger than the average vending machine, it pulverizes bottles into sand that can be used in construction and numerous other applications.
According to DB’s history, this latest creation is just the kind of thing their founder would have embraced. From the DB website:
DB Export was founded in 1930 by a man named Morton Coutts. It takes a particularly brilliant mind to see the world the way Morton Coutts did. He believed that if you don’t have what you need, build it. And if what you need doesn’t exist, invent it. It was through this mentality that the DB Export Family was born, going from strength to strength since way back.
One might not think that beaches running out of sand could be an issue but it turns out it’s a bigger concern than most people realize. Apparently, desert sand is too “round” to be effectively used in construction and is not a suitable substitute for beach sand, which is reportedly not a sustainable resource at the rate it’s being consumed.
Given all the beaches AND craft beer breweries we have here in SoCal, putting these things in everywhere they sell bottles seems like a no-brainer… I’m no scientist, but I think I could supply enough bottles for a small apartment complex myself…
I have no idea of the real-world benefits that might be realized by implementing something like this on a grand scale but even if it’s just a gimmick, it’s a damn good one…
I know it’s not exactly craft but it sure is cool.
