The Nganyana men’s income-generating group south of Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe has been hard at work. This group utilises used glass bottles from the Wilderness Camps – anything from wine, beer, and spirit bottles, to mayonnaise jars and tomato sauce bottles. The glass is crushed to a fine sand, and then used as a substitute for river sand in brickmaking. Bricks made using the recycled glass are 20% stronger than those that only use river sand, thus making them more durable and popular. Business is booming, as the bricks are more accessible to local community members who buy them and use them for construction within homesteads.
Children in the Wilderness facilitated the establishment of the group and helped obtain the tools and initial materials needed for the ongoing sustainability of the project. This included the glass crushers, which were made in Victoria Falls, and the safety gear. The brickmaking project is highly beneficial, as it provides employment for those involved and products that are needed by members of the community. It is also an environmentally friendly project as it greatly reduces the amount of glass waste that would otherwise end up in a landfill.
