Christmas Tree from Waste Bottles

By Udita Chaturvedi

Photography: Courtesy F.J. Chocarro San Martín & M. Urmeneta Fernández

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Wondering what to do with all the waste bottles collected at home? Well there is an idea and a “beautifully simple” one as some call it.

At the recently conducted WIN Lighting Awards 2012, the green bottle Christmas tree installed by the “Mancomunidad de la Comarca de Pamplona” (Pamplona’s Common Region is an entity that manages urban waste by way of reuse and recycle for a population of about 3,55,000 people) surprised everyone for its innovativeness and won the prize for excellence in design.

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The green bottle Christmas tree design reused some 2,330 glass bottles, collected over a period of one year from 13 families of Pamplona region in Spain. The 6m high conical structure, resembling a tree, with a diameter of 4.80m at the base used 90% green glass bottles and 10% transparent glass bottles. These glass bottles were then lit using waterproof linear fluorescent lamps Philips TCW060, arranged radially into three circular rings in parallel planes to the base. The light is projected towards the cone’s vertex illuminating the bottles; with colour temperature 840 and total power of only 2.3kW to emit a radiant green light on a street in Spain.

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The “simple, austere, contemporary, reusable, low energy consumption” design, installed by the group tries to put forth a message to the citizens to create awareness and sensitize them towards their responsibilities towards the environment and the society by encouraging them to “reduce, reuse and recycle” waste.

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This structure was projected and installed at Baluarte’s Auditorium Square in Spain in 2011-2012 and again in 2012-2013 around Christmas time.

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The 3,300kg structure is made using cone shaped steel with 4 quadrants screwed together, to allow easy assembling, dismantling, transport, storage and reusability of the entire installation.

This simple innovative design was highly appreciated by not just the audience but judges as well, who described it as an “intelligent and smart display” to light a place with commonly found house waste.