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Medellin designer exports accesories made from recycled boxes of Aguardiente

By Manuel Rueda, Editorial Director

Thursday, April 15, 2010

A young businesswoman from Medellin has found a new use for Colombia´s national drink by converting old aguardiente boxes into wallets, handbags, and cell phone containers.

Aguardiente is Colombia´s national drink and is often sold in tetrapack boxes that contain a liter of the fiery substance.

But encouraged by her mother and by the need to find an alternative source of income, publicist Vanesa Velasquez began to collect used Aguardiente boxes and turn them into trendy pencil cases, wallets. and handbags.

“It was hard to reach this point,” Velasquez said about her products.  “I initially grabbed an Aguardiente box, dismantled it, and began to give it different forms.  We wasted hundreds of needles on this with my mother, and lots of material, and it took us about five months to achieve this.”

In order to reach a wide audience and to avoid the cost of setting up a shop, Velasquez displays her products through a facebook group and takes online orders from customers.

She has mostly sold her Aguardiente accessories in Colombia, but has also begun to ship orders to Venezuela, London, and the United States.

Aguardiente boxes are made of cardboard and Velasquez puts them through a special chemical treatment that enables the material to be flexible and last for a long time.

Velasquez says she is attracting young, trendy, environmentally conscious clients who are happy to buy goods made from recycled materials.

The idea of using Aguardiente boxes also sits well with party goers according to this young entrepreneur.

“I thought it was a good idea to show that liquor is not only something you drink, but that you can also use it to design,” she told El Tiempo.  “My handbags go well with the city´s nightlife.”

Velasquez´s products can be found on the “Billeteras de aguardiente y ron Vanesa Velasquez” facebook page.