Ian Martinez Sarra working on one of his upcycled lamp creations.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
A man, who hails from Daanbantayan, a northern Cebu town 127.6 kilometers from Cebu City, proved that there really is money in garbage.
Thirty-four-year-old Ian Martinez Sarra is carving his own name in the furniture industry by crafting his own contemporary tabletop lamps, chandeliers and other lighting furniture and fixtures.
But Sarra isn’t employing any help yet. He does these handmade creations all by himself.
“I do it all by myself. My company is just starting,” he told CEBU DAILY NEWS in a recent interview.
So, how does Sarra do it?
As a safety precaution, he dons work gloves prior to working on his creations as he has to use cutting tools on the pipes needed in their assembly.
He then sprays denatured alcohol on the portion of the bottle to be cut. Before cutting, he uses a string to mark the portion to be cut.
Then, after igniting the denatured alcohol on the bottle for a few minutes, he places it in a container filled with cold water.
After the cut portion separates from the bottle, he uses sandpaper to blunt the sharp edges.
It usually takes Sarra a day to make a lampshade from bottles.
This method, according to Sarra, is called upcycling or reusing discarded materials and transforming it into a product of higher quality or value than what it originally was.
Thus, the birth of his Vitrum Upcycled Bottles and Crafts, which he started in February 2015.
How he started
Sarra recalled how he got the idea of doing upcycled crafts.
He said it happened last year when he was helping his partner recuperate from a stroke which left half of his partner’s body paralyzed.
His partner was then drinking vegetable juices, and, one time, while Sarra found himself staring at and appreciating the beauty of the empty bottles of fruit juices, he was suddenly hit by a burst of inspiration to make something beautiful and useful out of the empty bottles.
That led him to the idea of doing upcycled crafts.
With the aid of do-it-yourself videos on upcycled crafts on YouTube, he was able to get tips on how to do it on his own.
The products which he sells varies from tabletop lamps, to chandeliers and other lighting furniture and fixtures.
Prices range from P3,000 to as much as P3,500 depending on the size. His clients are mostly big companies in Makati City.
Most of the bottles, pipes and even bicycle parts he uses in his crafts are sourced from junk shops.
Sarra, who is based in Bicutan, Parañaque City, has also shared his craft to 20 out-of-school youths in his hometown in Daanbantayan when he visited last May 2015.
It was his way of helping them get back on their feet and recover from the devastation wrought by Supertyphoon Yolanda.