Floating on bottles :: Boat Jetty made with waste PET bottles

The blind and partially sighted students at the International Institute for Social Entrepreneurs (IISE) at Vellayani were an excited lot. The focus of their excitement was a floating platform, a miniature boat jetty that was developed by the Mechanical Engineering Department of the College of Engineering, Trivandrum (CET). What makes this jetty unique is the fact that it was made out of used empty PET bottles.

A one-of-its-kind platform in the country, its frame is made of ‘Aanjili’ wood. There are 24 compartments inside the frame and each compartment has no less than 110 PET bottles. Altogether, the arrangement has as many as 2,500 PET bottles, each bottle expected to carry 1 kg.

Not only is it a good solution to use waste bottles, it also serves as a great platform to sit on, have group discussions or simply enjoy the serene surroundings and cool breeze of the lake itself. It also helps them to have a better and easier access to the lake for swimming and for getting into paddle boats and a kayak said Paul Kronenberg, who, along with his partner Sabriye Tenberken, established the IISE at Vellayani.
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