Maria Elena García Autino
From Discourse 16

“…If your Snark be a Boojum! For then You will softly and suddenly vanish away, And never be met with again!”
-Lewis Carroll, The Hunting of the Snark

For children of Ruca Choroi1 Neuquen, Argentina, kites are not something new.

Back in 2005, Gustavo Sonzogni, a great kiteflier, and I started a kite building and flying experience that continued over several years throughout the region. We made more than 500 kites with schools and kids belonging mostly to the Mapuche2 community.

At that time, kites didn’t have a name in the Mapuche language. Children decided to call them cahuel mancuy, meaning “unruly horse.” The name refers to the difficulties of flying kites in the Patagonian winds. Now, even the wind sound on the kite sail has its own tahil (a sound or song that belongs to each animal or tree, according to the Mapuche people), the Cahuel Mancuy Tahil.

We returned in February 2014 and met with very sad news. The forest, the world’s largest reserve of pehuenes, or monkey tail trees, was on fire because of human carelessness. Chilling images show the destruction.

The forest, a magical and mysterious realm with species of ancient trees from the dinosaur times, shows today the terrible ravages of the hand of man over nature.

It’s not just the fire. The forest is also devastated by all kinds of trash tourists have thrown all over: paper, plastic, garbage bags, pieces of fabric, etc. Sooner or later, a wild forest or sea animal will eat it and the consequences will be painful. The forest beauty, a peaceful refuge from difficult and stressful city days, is also menaced. The ruined woods we used to know don’t cry for retribution. The people who have destroyed it will accomplish its revenge.

We talked with people, teachers, and students of rural schools nearby and decided to stage a small intervention. The “rebellious horses” this time will rebel against the progressive and alarming destruction of the forest.

Some years ago, Marten Bondestam, an incredible kiteflier from Finland visited Argentina and shared generously with me and many school children some of his wonderful models. Following several of his proposals, we decided to share the building of model kites using waste material found in the forest near the school. People promised to work hard on these ideas.

For us it is a first attempt to fight the limitations of the region (materials, threads, etc.). And that’s why we propose kites without a structure or with a very simple structure, trying to ignore fiberglass and similar materials.

But the main idea is: no need to create more waste. Trash can be recycled into a new and wonderful work of art or flying object that expresses the intention of preserving nature to the best of our abilities. Simplifying the structure, it is possible to achieve easy kites that incorporate elements found in the environment.

We try to make this experience an open challenge to all the experts who can create models with recycled material without adding more garbage to the world. We are not alone in this attempt. We have to thank a lot our friends from BaToCo3, and Alto Vuelo Kites4.

Plastic waste is a constant threat to forests and lakes. We built a threatening ghost using white bag remains frequently found in the environment.

A disposable discarded plastic tablecloth becomes a kite. This kite model was first proposed by Marten Bondestam and was built by Oscar Holgado, a BaToCo member. We consider this an interesting model since its construction uses only discarded plastic. No structure at all. It is extremely easy to build, and since tourists seem more interested in protecting their tables than the forests, materials are easy to find.

A discarded umbrella starts a new adventure as a kite. We used the umbrella structure just the way we found it, and, after some experiments, it flew nicely and high. We could not believe it!

Black garbage bags become flying bats. They can be recycled into toys; no need to add more garbage to the environment.

A flying smiling face was built by a group of deaf children out of plastic wrap, which is usually discarded in large quantities.

Large models were made out of reused big garbage bags, inspired by Marten Bondestam kites.

The Snark, Lewis Carroll’s disturbing and mysterious monster, appeared on two different versions of kites made by kids from Caminemos Juntos, a school sustained mostly by their parents who sell creative recycled objects.

Alberto Barrero, a creative member of BaToCo, was enthusiastic about the idea. He built a huge delta with discarded wrapping paper from his own brand-new air conditioner. This type of paper, which pollutes a lot, is typically used only once and quickly discarded. Alberto’s kite flies very well and defies expert kite builders.

Small kites, a simplified version of the sled, can easily be constructed from grocery bags or the type used for wrapping gifts. They are ideal for small children and they fly very well, recovering the art of building kites in families or at school at low cost, without compromising nature with new contaminants. Actually, during our trip we made many of them for children passing by.

Sailors insist on the huge amount of trash found nowadays on the open sea. Plastics of all kinds: refrigerators and car battery covers, plastic furniture, etc. Chilling lists are published, as well as pictures of dead whales with huge amounts of plastic in their stomachs.

Reusing discarded elements is not perhaps the ultimate solution, but it is an interesting option to the permanent production of new items that will soon be discarded in turn.

This situation is increasingly evident with toys. Toys today are made out of plastic and are especially fragile. The construction of kites with recycled materials offers no cost; back to the old and simple toys of the past. Kids become aware of the possibility of limiting the production of useless objects, using again what is wasted to build beautiful kites.

Reusing things may go against the consumer society, but it is good for the sea, the lakes, and forests. And for all of us too!

Lets do it before snarked trash becomes a Bojoom! ◆

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Alto Vuelo Kites
Friends from BaTaCo
Alberto Barrero
Gustavo Sonzogni
Oscar Holgado
Daniel Garcia

NOTES

1. http://www.welcomeargentina.com/alumine/lake-ruca-choroi.html
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mapuche
3. http://www.batoco.org
4. http://www.altovuelo.com