Necessity is the Mother of All Invention: First Time Observations of Sustainability in Cuba
Because of Cuba's history (I won't go into the details here... do some research if you need a reminder), Cuba was forced to become independent in as many ways as possible. Instead of being spoon-fed functional items by large industries (as I would argue that we are in 'the Global North'), the situation gave birth to a huge leap in creativity of the Cuban minds. In my six weeks in these abundant lands, I observed so many fascinating things that it would be impossible to fit them all into one brief blog post. Thus here begins a small series of 'Sustainable Cuba' blog posts through my eyes...
Nothing is wasted in Cuba. By default, the large island is a living example of a closed-loop system. There is hardly any waste, as creative minds put every last bit to use. For instance...
I bought an ice-cream from a street vendor, and lo-and-behold, the stick it came on was recycled plastic from a ring binder.
When eating dinner with a wonderful host farming family, the cups that we drank rum from were old mini yoghurt pots.
The head-harnesses for the oxen that plough the fields are made from old oxen horns and hair. And rather than some industrial contraption to stop the oxen from munching on the plants as they work, farmers simply tie dry banana leaves around their faces (they look rather akin to an old-fashioned toothache remedy, with bandages around the face!).
Even in touristy places where all rubbish is thrown into the same basket (tourists are unable to consistently throw their rubbish into the correct recycling sections, I assume?), I observed that at the end of the day it is dutifully sorted out into organic and non-organic, and the non-organic objects are put aside for up-cycling, making them serve some purpose. Old tin cans are used to sow seeds in fields, for example.
I asked for a bunjee cord to bind my bags to the back of a rented moped, and soon enough, I was helping to chop up an old moped inner-tube into a wonderfully functional elasticated lashing.
Nails to attach horseshoes were hand-made, as there was no industry in Cuba that could make them, so blacksmiths had to figure it out for themselves.
On many occasions I saw old tires that were cut and used as water troughs for the animals.
It is rare to see a horse and cart go down the streets without the horse having a sack rigged up behind it's rear-end to collect manure as natural fertilizer for the fields. Why leave it to make a mess and go to waste on the streets, if it can be collected and used to add great nutrition to the soil and therefore grow you better vegetables at home?
Seemingly useless chair-frames with nothing to sit on (I imagine these would be swiftly taken to the dump in countries such as the UK or the US) have been easily made functional again, with the binding of old telephone cables.
These vine-grown colourful seeds can be found
everywhere in the countryside. When browsing artisan markets, I noticed that jewellery made from them are one of the main items for sale.
When buying cheese, sweet guava jelly, tamarind pulp, artisan chocolate, or other such home-made food items, they are ALL sold wrapped in re-used plastic. Often the food is even shaped according to the size of the up-cycled plastic wrapper. For example, today I ate tamarind pulp that was perfectly sized to the old plastic wrapper of a napkin packet. In most other countries, these plastic wrappers would be thrown in the bin without thinking twice about it. Here, they are washed, and used in a very practical way.
The same goes with old glass bottles. If they are not washed, re-labelled and re-used by filling with other tasty delicacies and condiments (local 'agropecuarias' (vegetable markets) offer tomato puree, hot chili sauce, vinegars, cooking wines, lemon juice, etc. in old beer bottles), they are cut and filed to form drinking glasses. Most stalls selling juice, wine, coffee, etc. sell the beverage in these beer-bottle-glasses.
Broken tiles are used for many construction projects. From entire house-fronts to bathroom walls,
re-used broken tiles create decorative walls with stunning results.
Likewise, I witnessed quite a few garage doors made from a conglomeration of scrap metal. It looked like a creative art project!
Many stalls sell pots and kitchen ware clearly made here in Cuba from recycled metal. And they appear to be very good quality items.
Iron re-bar, normally used for building foundations, has creatively been welded and re-mastered into gate and steps.
We ordered pizza to take away, and when they gave it to us on a plate and we asked for something to take it away in, they looked nonplussed, and ended up folding the pizzas in half and giving them to us in an old paper menu. Extra boxes and packaging is not something that exists here, because they instantly create waste.
On the same note, people bring their own bags when they go shopping. Buying something and being given it in a bag is a rare thing. If you are in need, either people will find an old cardboard box for you, or sell you a bag especially.
Old drinks cans are also cut up and turned into these creative toy cameras, and sold to tourists.
Take-away coffee or coconut milkshake? Most Cubans drink the beverage at the stand selling it, but if they want to take it away, the locals will without fail bring a container to fit it, such as a tupperware, an cup, or plastic bottle. Forget about disposable cups.
I would claim that it is increasingly difficult to find shops that fix broken electrical items or machinery in Westernised countries. In comparison, I've experienced that in most Latin American countries it is relatively easy to fix such items. In Cuba, following the 'no waste' pattern that I've been describing, there is a level of ingenuity for fixing things to an extent that I've never seen before. It was common to see people stripping useful parts from old machinery or repairing car motors openly in the street.
In this land of perpetual hot sunshine, solar panels are ubiquitous.
In Cuba, there were barely any brands that we recognised. No McDonalds, Coca Cola, Starbucks... you get the gist. The 'fast-food' available was always hand-made there on the spot, but Cubans mainly cooked their meals at home. Beans, rice, sugar, and other staples were sold from large sacks. And what would people bring to the shop to get their rations put in? Of course, their own containers from home, tupperwares, pots, etc.
One amazing sight was a bicycle with pedals made from rolled up plastic sheets held together with screws. I imagine most people in other parts of the world with a broken pedal and no money to buy a new one wouldn't have a clue what to do! Likewise, old CDs were regularly used as reflectors on the back of bicycles – a very intelligent and simple design.
Coffee beans are sold in the countryside in old plastic bottles. Apparently the air-tightness keeps them fresh for longer... It's much more sustainable to re-use bottles than get fresh foil-lined bags for the coffee, as they do in other parts of the world.
I met a young man who had rigged up a chainsaw motor to an old beach-cruiser bicycle. With the addition of a comfy motorbike seat and some fatter tyres, petrol held in an old plastic bottle (attached where one would normally find a water bottle on a bike!) and old telephone cables to funnel the petrol – he had created himself a great motorized vehicle for easy mobility.
Another incredible invention that I came across was this stove. An old upside-down plastic bottle held the petrol, and a recycled hollow cable funnelled the petrol down to the stove. The stove first had to be heated by filling a dish-like section with alcohol and setting it alight (in quite a fire-hazardous way, as you can see in the photo!). Once it was hot enough, the petrol would turn to gas upon reaching the stove, and thus the stove could be lit. (I told our Cuban host that I would make the coffee, upon which he said, “Really! Well... first light the stove then”, while defiantly handing me a pack of matches. I approached the stove confidently and quickly realized that I didn't have the faintest clue of how to make it work. This was how I came to understand the inner-workings of this creative contraption).
Cuba offers some incredible rock-climbing, and the climbing community here is growing. However, no climbing equipment can be purchased in the country. The price of a cheap harness sold in the US, for example, is equivalent to many months of the average Cuban salary. In Viñales, the region most known for beautiful climbs, there is one house where past visiting climbers have left their gear for others to use. In other parts of the world, I imagine that people wouldn't hesitate to throw out this old gear to replace with the latest model or less worn equipment. In this humble climbing community, however, it is treasured, shared, and repeatedly used until it can be used no more.
These examples that I've given are just the tip of the iceberg. These are simply a few things that I witnessed in the specific areas that I visited during my limited six weeks in Cuba.
So, in Cuban style, let your imagination run wild...
