Recycling is a watchword among ecologically oriented people, but in most cases it means melting or grinding up metals, plastics and paper products to produce more metal, plastic and paper products. Tonala artisans Miguel and Ara Camacho, however, believe in recycling with more imagination and style.
“How many times,” Miguel asked me, “have you held an empty artistically designed bottle of some fine liqueur in your hand and thought ‘What a waste’ before tossing it into the trash with a sigh? Many of those bottles are genuine works of art and we have found a few ways to keep them in circulation.”
More than a few. Miguel and Ara Camacho specialize in cutting up cast-off bottles and transforming them into fashionable articles that are also useful around the home.
Said Miguel: “We started out turning them into vases and candy dishes and then discovered how to add a stylish handle, so your Absolut Vodka bottle now becomes a handsome mug. By drilling a hole in the bottom of the bottle and adding a light socket, we can transform an elegant bottle of Hennessy Cognac into an even more elegant table lamp. And we make candelabras, ashtrays, hummingbird feeders, pencil holders, snack dishes ... all kinds of things.”
He also showed me a clever kind of two-part “absorption flower pot” in which a cut-off bottle top sits upside down (like a funnel) in the bottom half of the same bottle.
“You put your plant into the funnel, put a cloth wick in the neck and fill the lower part with water,” said Miguel. “It works much better than a traditional flower pot.”
Convinced that “recycling benefits the whole world,” the Camachos spent several years trying to recycle just about everything, including electronic parts. Finally, they decided to concentrate their efforts on one product – bottles. They eventually founded a small business called Decorativos CAVI, and are delighted to help people “do it yourself” with any memorable bottles that might be lying around the house. “Bring us your bottle and we’ll professionally cut it for you for only 25 pesos,” Ara said with a charming smile.
Beer bottles are not exactly elegant, but certain ones could be considered memorable. We had one of these which we managed to bring back from Kenya via Saudi Arabia (no easy task for a bottle which once contained alcohol!). Our Kilimanjaro beer bottle had been gathering dust on a shelf for many years.
“Miguel, can you turn this little item into a beer glass?” I asked.
Decorativos CAVI has professional glass cutting equipment – including diamond buzz saws – at their Tonala headquarters, but at that moment I was standing in front of Miguel’s workbench in his home.
“No problem,” he said as he placed my bottle into a kind of clamp on a flat board. When he turned the bottle, a glass cutter scratched it all the way around. “You really don’t need any fancy equipment after this step, just a candle.”
He held the bottle above a lit candle and turned it, heating the scratch all the way around. Suddenly, the bottle split in two. “Now comes the hard part, if you are doing everything by hand. You have to smooth the cut with number 80 wet sandpaper. But if you have a little patience, you can do the whole job at home.”
The Camachos latest project is trying to convince Jalisco’s tequila makers to allow their bottles to be recycled. Said Miguel: “The tequila people oblige restaurants and bars to destroy empty tequila bottles in order to prevent dishonest people from refilling them illegally. We are trying to convince them that they can achieve the same end by converting those bottles into attractive glasses which, of course, also advertise their product. A famous Guadalajara restaurant recently asked us to make them 280 glasses cut from tequila bottles. Meanwhile, we are waiting for a reply from the Consejo Regulador del Tequila.”
Walmart Expo
Decorativos CAVI and many other craft businesses operate out of Tonala, which has been home to artisans for as long as anyone can remember. Because Tonala is located at the extreme eastern edge of Guadalajara, people living at the other end of town may be a bit reluctant to cross the city just to see what’s new, but a local organization, Fondo Tonalá Im
pulso Alfarero (Fund for Promoting Tonalá Pottery), is trying to do something about that and right now around 30 small businesses based in Tonalá are displaying their wares in front of the Vallarta Walmart at Plaza Galerías. Here you can find jewelry, water fountains, obsidian stones for massage and acupuncture, wind chimes, statues, toys, clothing, organic hand and face creams and everything imaginable in pottery and ceramics.
Said Alexander Flores Arias, director of the Fondo: “The Tonala artisans will be at Plaza Galerías right up to Sunday night, March 1. People living on the west side of Guadalajara and Zapopan should take advantage of this chance to discover the new creations our talented crafts men and women have come up with.”
If you are interested in CAVI’s recycled bottles or have a bottle of your own you’d like cut, you can contact the Camachos (in English or Spanish) at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call (33) 3719-9540.