Nourishing pulp, juice that is a panacea and the peel, the mesocarp, which lends itself to the most varied uses, from green building to the automotive industry. Here are some ways to creatively recycle coconut beyond the classic ashtray.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him"Coccoooo, cocco belloooo!" Even on the most hidden beaches, who has never come across a street vendor of this delicious exotic fruit? Good in winter, coconut is one of the main fruits of summer: low in calories and low in fat, its milk contains a balanced quantity of sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium which make it a healthy electrolyte drink as well as refreshing, invigorating, fresh.
The women of the tropical regions who have relied on it for centuries are well aware of this rehydration and beauty of the skin and the health of the organism; coconut, in fact, helps regulate intestinal activity, helps remove toxins, promotes the absorption of nutrients in the digestive tract, is rich in flavonoids (antioxidants) and has undoubted calming and refreshing properties oh what anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-microbial.
Nourishing pulp, a juice that is a cure-all ...and of the peel, of the mesocarp? Yes, in short, of the woody part that is made of it? Pressed, chopped, macerated and needled into fabrics, the coconut fiber becomes a resistant, breathable, organic material, with performance characteristics that increasingly expand its fields of application: the textile industry has already accustomed us to products that, we could define, ethno-chic such as carpets, artifacts, clothes and even accessories but some will be surprised to discover that, we hope soon, coconut fiber will also become a structural element of our homes and cars.
Appreciated in green building it is in fact its characteristic of not shielding the natural radiation field so that it can be used for insulate buildings, create breathable, anti-allergic and ecological floors and partitions while in the automotive world the searches of the Baylor University in Texas they aim to exploit the characteristics of resistance, hardness and lightness of this fiber to replace synthetic polyester fibers in the interior coatings of cars. A small revolutionary eco-ethical choice that would allow, in addition to a considerable economic and energy saving, of revive the coconut market vital for developing countries.
And at our house? While waiting for these fresh innovations, we could try our hand, with a little attention and a few small tricks, in a creative reuse of this wood with a thousand lives. Besides the usual ashtray - raise your hand if you don't have one - with the help of a few tools we could give free rein to our imagination.
First of all, the surface of the coconut must be well cleaned and smooth. Wanting to use it in its entirety, enriching it and adorning it with seeds, legumes and anything else that comes under fire, coconut can turn into boxes with an exotic air to be used for the most varied uses while, cut in half, it can become one tasty valet tray or, with the help of a small jigsaw and some wire in one truly original lamp cover. Yet pendants, rings, clips, earrings and cards to tie together to give life to charger plates, centerpiece or even handbags.
All you have to do is cut a piece from the coconut shell as large as the size of the workpiece, then glue the drawing to follow to this piece and, with the help of a jigsaw, cut out the shape. Obtained the piece lo you work manually with different types of sandpaper starting from a 60 to smooth it until it is very smooth and shiny with a 3000 grain.
Rosa Simonetta
