Our Repurposed Trash Projects
Love Blue's trash projects, like the Cigarette Surfboard & the Bottle Cap Sunglasses, showcase the unique & innovative ways that we can turn trash into treasure. By repurposing discarded items, we not only seduce waste but also raise awareness about the importance of recycling & upcycling.
​
These projects inspire creativity, spark conservations, & demonstrates that even the most unlikely materials can be transformed into something valuable & meaningful. It's all about finding beauty in the unexpected & making a positive impact on our environment.
Cigs Inside Surfboard
Love Blue Inc. and Mellow Grove came together with a shared vision to raise awareness about ocean pollution in a bold and creative way. The *"Cigs Inside"* project was born out of this collaboration, starting with summer beach cleanups in Wildwood Crest. Volunteers from both organizations, including Love Blue Inc.'s chapters across the country, gathered cigarette butts—one of the ocean's most harmful pollutants. With every cleanup, they saved up thousands of cigarette butts, with a larger plan in mind.
The plan culminated in transforming an 11-foot Ron Jon surfboard into a 6'6 performance board. First, the board was cut down, then meticulously sanded and shaped for precision. On the top of the board, they carved out indents, which would soon be filled with the thousands of collected cigarette butts. After carefully embedding the butts into the indents, they were glossed with resin to secure them in place, ensuring that the symbolic message would endure. The final step involved wrapping and glossing the entire board to give it a sleek, finished look.
But the message didn’t stop there. Mellow Grove’s artist, Benny "Tripp" Smith, crafted a lifesize cigarette on the back of the board, complete with both Love Blue Inc. and Mellow Grove logos imprinted on the bottom. The surfboard now serves as a striking reminder of the devastating impact cigarette butts have on our beaches, highlighting their status as the number one ocean pollutant.
Through this innovative project, the *"Cigs Inside"* surfboard isn’t just a work of art—it’s a call to action for surfers, skaters, and environmental advocates alike to help protect the ocean and keep our shores clean.
Bottle Cap Sunglasses
Love Blue Inc. and Mellow Grove joined forces once again to tackle ocean pollution with their latest project: the *"Bottle Cap"* sunglasses. Much like their previous initiative, the project kicked off with collaborative beach cleanups, this time focusing on collecting discarded plastic bottle caps that litter the shores. Volunteers from Love Blue Inc.’s chapters and Mellow Grove worked tirelessly to gather the caps, saving them for a larger, innovative purpose.
Once the caps were collected, the real transformation began. The team developed a unique process, carefully melting the plastic to a specific temperature. This approach kept the material nontoxic, preventing it from burning or smoking while making it malleable enough to mold into new shapes. The versatility of the recycled plastic allowed the team to experiment with various creations, including skate grinding rods and downhill longboard sliding pucks for gloves.
However, the true highlight of the project came when Mellow Grove artist Benny "Tripp" Smith, who had been experimenting with materials in his college workshop, envisioned something even more impactful—*Bottle Cap* sunglasses. Using the resources and tools available at his school, Benny crafted the sunglasses from melted plastic, turning ocean waste into a wearable statement of sustainability. The result was not just a pair of sunglasses, but a symbol of how creativity and environmental consciousness can come together to create something functional and stylish.
The *"Bottle Cap"* sunglasses serve as a reminder of the growing plastic problem in our oceans and inspire others to see waste in a new light—where even the smallest discarded item can be transformed into something meaningful. Through this project, Love Blue Inc. and Mellow Grove continue to lead the way in turning pollution into purpose, one bottle cap at a time.