Plastic Bottle Cutter Fills a Niche No One Knew Needed Filling

Every once in a while a product comes along and all I can do is shake my head. I’m sure there is a use for this somewhere in the world, and bless their hearts for wanting to make a difference and reduce garbage, but I just don’t get this one. On the other hand, people like me are giving the Plastic Bottle Cutter free publicity, so maybe they’re doing something right after all, huh?

The idea here is the Cutter takes plastic bottles that would otherwise end up in a landfill or tossed on the side of the road (which is weird for me because we’ve had a bottle deposit here since I was a kid and the thought of wasting that money annoys me) and cuts them into string/rope that can be used for a multitude of tasks. The idea here is to have less environmental impact, but also to provide an affordable, useful tool for the impoverished.

The Plastic Bottle Cutter consists of a wooden stick with a replaceable blade. Its looks are a little, shall we say, simplistic. But then it is pretty simple. All you have to do is cut the bottom off your bottle, and if it has straight sides just set the Cutter to whatever size string you need and essentially use it like a manual can opener. As the Cutter goes around the bottle, plastic string is produced. If your bottle isn’t a uniform straight shape, just heat it in boiling water and stretch it until it is.

First thought: My hands are going to be cut to ribbons closely resembling the plastic string if I use it to, say, tie something! According to Pavel & Ian (who created the Cutter), “The corners of the string are rather sharp, you can distinctly feel the corner with fingers – but it does not hurt the skin (if normal using).” They do say, however, that if you find the edges are too sharp (I’m assuming you will), you should put it in boiling water for a couple of seconds to soften the edges, but you should be careful not to deform it too much.

Here’s the thing: I must be in the cynical minority here, because their Kickstarter campaign has surpassed its funding goal by something like 400%. Pledges started at €20 (about $22.00 US), and people jumped at the chance to back them. Assuming all goes according to plan with manufacturing, they’re expecting to ship this coming June.

Source: Gizmag