The 11-yr Old Keeping Climbing Gear out of Landfills

You're never too old (or young) to start innovating.

That's what 11-year old Taj Field of Ontario, Canada has taught us. In school, Taj was assigned an environmental resources project. Wanting to divert waste from ending up in landfills Taj, with the help of his father, started collecting donated, expired climbing rope. Determined to give the rope a new leash on life, the pair began prototyping designs for dog leashes made from the expired rope.

The leashes started to sell like hotcakes. Responding to the demand, the pair launched an official website, www.releash.ca, and made an open request for donations of used climbing rope to in use in production. According to their site, by using expired climbing rope for every leash, 0.192 kg of rope is prevented from entering the landfill. To date, they have prevented more than 30 kg of rope from ending up in the landfill.

"Releash has prevented more than 30 kg of rope from ending up in the landfill".

Climbing rope cannot be recycled in normal recycling facilities, and specialized rope recycling programs are not available in all cities. As a safety measure, it is recommended that the average climbing rope be replaced every 10 years (minimum). For more information on Taj's social business or to purchase a Releash dog leash, visit www.releash.ca

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