Mahwah Restaurant To Help Turn Plastic Bottles Into Schools
Program takes trash and literally builds a school with it
Mahwah Bar & Grill announced that it will be donating 10% of food sales on Wednesday, February 8, 2012 from 5-10 p.m. to an organization called Hug it Forward, for the purpose of building “bottle schools” in Guatemala.
A bottle school is exactly what it sounds like—a school built from discarded plastic bottles and other non-biodegradable trash. Pioneered in Guatemala by the organization Pura Vida, such schools use “eco bricks” instead of the usual cinder blocks. Plastic bottles stuffed with non-biodegradable trash picked up by community volunteers are encased in chicken wire and used as insulation between layers of poured concrete that form the structurally sound outer walls. The resulting classrooms cost about $5,000 each, a fraction of the usual construction cost, and remove tons of trash from the community.
Hug it Forward’s first project in Guatemala, in October 2009, according to the organization’s website, used over 5,000 plastic bottles to build two classrooms and used 2,053 pounds of trash. The school serves 297 children and youths in a municipality of 13,860 people spread over almost 96 square miles.
Such projects bring entire villages together, young & old, to make the dream of education a reality. One Bergen County resident, Nadine Pagerie of Oakland, NJ started volunteering with Hug It Forward in October, 2011 and has promised to raise enough money to build a school in a rural village in Chisec, Guatemala. The community has already collected and stuffed enough bottles to begin construction on their school, but funding is still needed for other materials such as rebar and concrete.
That is where Mahwah Bar & Grill comes in. According to Craig Kunisch, owner at MB&G, “We heard about this project from Nadine, a former employee, and knew we had to help. It is such a great concept with tremendous positive impact. We are proud to be a part of it."
The hazards of plastic bottles and their exceptionally long life in landfills have long been environmental concerns in the US and other developed countries. Hug it Forward’s creative answer to this problem in one of the world’s poorest countries is an ingenious solution that lends hope to the thousands of children who will benefit from “bottle schools.”
Enjoy a great meal and learn more by dining at MB&G on Wednesday, February 8th between 5:00 PM and 10:00 PM (Eastern Time). For more information on this event please contact Craig Kunisch at Phone: 201-529-8056 / Email: cmkunisch@msn.com or Nadine Pagerie at Phone: 201-522-0267 or Email: Nadine@hugitforward.org.
About MB&G: The Mahwah Bar and Grill in one of three restaurants owned by the Kunisch Family. The fourth generation continues the tradition of great food at reasonable prices started by their great-grandmother in 1935. All three locations take an active role in the communities they serve.
About Hug it Forward: Hug It Forward is a 501c3 non-profit that blends intangible change with tangible change globally with one goal, uniting people as one. The intangible change is provided by raising awareness of global issues and by demonstrating that we are all one people. The tangible change is provided by empowering communities to unite and work together towards a common goal: building schools built out of waste trash bottles called "bottle schools".
Release from MB&G.
