Heavens above and Lordy me, the last Friday of the month has been and gone. June, gone, up in a puff of smoke. The Solstice has been and gone, the full moon the other night was glorious and now July is around the corner. It’s now Saturday so I am late.

The end of the month on a Friday is a good choice of time to seek out Good News. The timing has its own particular touch. Friday, end of month, a weekend in which to explore others’ offerings on good news around the globe. It’s good to have an injection of good news, like a Vit B 12 one.

So I looked for good news this morning. I was lucky, I didn’t have to overly search. I like this story very much – Cape Town is part of my heritage, it is a beautiful city, works of art and of upcoming artists are frequently exhibited. Further, I like very much that the grounds from the coffee capsules are used for enriching the soil – fertiliser – for the growing of vegetables. Grounds into the ground. So this is altogether a win-win. Circular economy in action. Plus the viewer of Oscar The Seal (Cape Town’s mascot) will enjoy it and hopefully also be inspired in some way to do their bit in terms of recycling – for the planet and all its inhabitants.

Cape Artist Breathes New Life Into The Table Bay’s Used Coffee Capsules!

Sylvia McGrath (https://www.professorowlsbookcorner.com ) & Belinda Witzehausen (https://www.BelindaWitzenhausen.com/) will be co-hosting. To them our thanks, and to Ashlynn Waterstone who keeps the home fires burning in terms of spreading the good news on social media. Please visit them, and do likewise with other #WATWB posts you may come across. If you retweet, FB or whatever please use the #WATWB hashtag.

If you would like to join in with posting for #WATWB or simply spread some joy on Facebook or Twitter, please click HERE for more information, guidelines and the hosts for this month’s event. You can go HERE to be part of the #WATWB Community Facebook page, where monthly posts congregate for your reading pleasure.

Thank you for reading. Have a lovely and safe weekend. May the Force be with you.

52 Comments on Work of Art from coffee pods

  1. I like your comparison, Susan, of Vit B 12 and good news. Thank you for sharing a fascinating article about the artist and used Nespresso capsules. I cannot imagine the amount of effort it takes when he employs a team of seven. And grounds into the ground do enrich the soil. I feel the good news vitamins seeping into my spirit. ❤️

    • Thanks for coming by Erica and so glad you enjoyed the post. Firstly, I am not sure if in BC you are having searing heat and if so, do take great care. Winter is pretty much on our doorstep now. Cape Town which is 550 kms away and in easy reach by car (and wonderful scenery and small towns en route to stop in at and have a refreshing bite and delicious coffee and lovely home made goodies) is flooding because of the rain. It is rainy season but the flooding has been awful especially for those in shanty homes. I hope we get some rain soon in Plettenberg Bay. Have a lovely weekend x 🙂 x

      • Yes, searing heat in BC, Susan. Around a high of 42 to 43 degrees. Unfortunately, Lytton, a town in the Interior, completely burned down. Things have cooled down about 10 degrees right now. I cannot imagine the challenging flooding and Plettenberg Bay hoping for rain. The planet’s weather is unpredictable. Take care. xx

        • I heard about Lytton how it just combusted and was razed to the ground. Apparently, not the first time there’ve been dreadful heat and firestorms in Lytton. Glad it’s cooled down a bit Erica. 32 degrees or so sounds like a perfectly manageable temperature. Hot, but not as bad as anything like upper 30’s or 40’s is. Hope it doesn’t get toooo much hotter. Cape Town has been known to reach the 40’s in the summer months – a newish phenomenon in recent years. Take care Erica and thanks for your comment ..xx

  2. Hi Susan – I spotted the coffee grounds aspect and now have had time to look at Godfrey Dambuleni’s sculptures – they are so extraordinary and how wonderful to read about the recycling, reformatting and the sculpture promoting Dambuleni’s ‘Oscar’ sculpture on the Cape waterfront: it looks stunning and what a great idea from the hotel.

    Halfway through and one day down! I do love our summer … even with the mist and dampness … it’s England. Enjoy Plet and stay safe – Hilary

    • Great to see you here Hilary, pinch and a punch for the first of the month. Wimbledon in full swing – all good, nice and cold here in Plet. Former Pres been sentenced to 15 months in jail – judiciary system in fine fettle. Susan

      • Thanks Susan for your excellent ‘Hilary’ Limerick – I shall use it often …

        I saw the dreaded Z had been sentenced … I just wonder if he’ll come as in good a shape as Cosby’s appeared to me … surely it should be punishment. I dunno – I’m not going there any more!

        Just watching Cam Norrie – who was born in Jhb and met friends of mine in the maternity area when their son was being born … so South Africa is on my mind … as too the other countries he’s lived in.

        Just so glad it’s not ‘nice and cold’ over here … thanks – cheers for now, Hilary

  3. Love this post, Susan! Recycling is a key component of sustainability and long life on this planet. And I agree with you — where the heck did June go?!?

  4. Hi Susan, I love that you always find South African news to share. A lovely piece of uplifting information. Can you believe I found your son’s latest song on Beetley Pete’s blog. I’m not sure if you follow him but he lives in Norfolk in the UK.

    • Good news in this country is always so welcomed, like the concourt ruling today on Zuma! Wonder if this will have a positive effect? Thanks for coming by Robbie – I checked out Beetley Pete’s blog re the Kiffness and saw your comment there!

  5. Very interesting Susan–the grounds as fertilizer. I will likely miss the WATWB altogether this month. Too many obstacles–but the force is with us now to overcome them.

  6. I really do love when someone recycles waste into art. It’s a creative way to help with the environment, but also to bring joy to the community. Thanks for sharing!

  7. Great to see recycling. These metal coffee capsules are like the little containers for Keurig coffee makers? They are once use containers that fit into a chamber on the coffee maker.

    • Thanks Deborah for coming by – I don’t know the Keurig coffee makers, we have the Nespresso one, in which the little pod/container is fitted. Have a lovely week 🙂

    • Thanks Belinda! And thanks for cohosting this round (and many others) and have a great week 🙂

  9. This is such a great story, Susan. I’ve never liked those wasteful coffee pods and wasn’t happy when Hub replaced our drip filter with a pod machine. My only protest was that I didn’t learn to make coffee with it. He had to do that. But it wasn’t much of a protest as I still drink the coffee he makes with it. Just recently though, I have bought pods from a new company here in Australia that makes biodegradable pods. They are not compostable in a home composter yet but they are working on it. I don’t feel nearly so bad. Their coffee is ethically sourced and fair trade certified too.
    I love that your local artist is using the pods to make beautiful works of art. That is a great use too.
    Yes, June flew by so fast. I think you had a June birthday. You mentioned on my blog that you were also a Gemini, but when I went back to comment, I couldn’t find your original comment. What date are you? I hope you had a wonderful month and a fantastic July. May it not speed by so fast.

    • Norah, believe it or not, I too do not know how to use that Nespresso pod machine and I’m glad I don’t. I’ve heard of biodegradable pods, I’ll look out for such. We go for fair trade coffee too, this is not hard to find.

      July is almost here – the SA president is about to have a family chat on TV at 8.00 p.m. and we are expecting a lockdown of sorts, including no interprovincial travel. If he says from 1st July, this will give Davey and daughter-in-law time to get here from Johannesburg to Plett. But word is, travel banned from tomorrow. We wait with bated breath for 8.00 p.m.

      I had to do some sums to work out your birthday – you are/were a few days after me (in days, not years!) Thank you for coming by – have a great July 🙂

      • We’ve gone into a three-day lockdown from 6 pm tonight in an attempt to stop the spread of the delta strain which has escaped. I hope 3 days will do it. I also hope Davey and DIL are able to get to you before your lockdown.
        What date are you, Susan? I’m sure I’d be ahead of you in years. 🤩

        • The president has put us into a 14 day lockdown as from yesterday! He made this announcement on Sunday night. The delta strain is apparently raging like wild fire, restaurants not allowed to have sit in dining, no alcohol to be sold during this time, curfew at 9.00 p.m., no large gatherings, no interprovincial travel and so on.

          Mine was on the 12th but I was born waaaay before you Norah! (When Moses was a boy.)

          • Oh dear. Fourteen days is a long time – better than getting Covid though – especially for us oldies!! 😉😂
            Happy belated birthday for the 12th. I’ll try to remember that you’re nearly a week ahead of me. 💖

            • so, are you on the 19th???? I know you’re many years after me, born sometime in the 1950’s or 60’s! We have a house full of painters, luckily wearing their masks. Son Mike popped round for something but left hurriedly when he saw everyone here. Fewer than the last days as now it’s just touch up and tidy up 🙂

              • I’m on the 18th. Did I calculate incorrectly? I was born in the early 50s.
                Painting sounds exciting. I hope they’ve done a good job. 🙂

  10. Isn’t this the best! What a great way to take those wasteful coffee pods and do some things good with them. Just love it

    • Coffee grounds into the ground … art on the ground, or rather on a pedestal of sorts – it is great isn’t it! Thanks Ally Bean for coming by 🙂

  11. Thanks for searching out good news for us. I checked out the artwork on the linked website and saw what I think is a seal made of coffee capsules. I have also heard that coffee grounds help fertilize the soil.

    So appreciate this, Susan. Thanks again! 🙂

    • I hope that the aliminium Oscar the Seal appears on my post Marian – ie first up. But if not, thank you for going further!
      Have a lovely Sunday 🙂

    • Thanks Ashlynn so much – and to you for being the valuable behind the scenes woman for spreading the #WATWB good news.

  13. Creativity, Recycling, Art & Coffee — I love everything about this post. (How could one not?)
    Like you, I don’t know what in the heck has happened to June. It is speeding by ultra-fast.
    Wishing you a very happy July!

      • Mikdog gravatar is me Donna – my son hosts my page – I used my phone to respond instead of computer

  14. What a delightful uplifting story this is! It warms my heart. And maybe his artful recycling will take a little heat off the planet! I must look up Dambuleni and see his other works. Thank you for sharing this special one here. Love, Jeanie

    • Thanks Jeanie so much – I also looked him up. Our African artists are making waves – it’s very exciting. Love, Susan

      • Oops sorry about the mikdog gravatar – my son hosts my page and when I use my phone instead of my computer his handle comes up

  15. Those single serve coffees drive me nuts. How can people be so wasteful and oblivious to our environment! Glad this young man has done something about it.

    • I think many artists have used coffee pods to make things Jacqui, plastic too, woven into brightly coloured strong bags for carrying goods. What worries me mostly are thrpw-away nappies thrown into the trash. These are so not biodegradable .. expensive too. Yes, Godfrey is doing a good thing in his recycling into art. Thanks for coming by 🙂

  16. Well, I was so impressed with Oscar that I had to look into Godfrey’s art deeper and was happy to discover on his Facebook page he’s uploaded a short video of other sculptures he’s created, mainly animals, including elephants, lions, rhinos and hippos all from waste and recycling materials. Brilliant! Thank you for sharing another upbeat post Susan and spreading more good news.

    Ps. Ha-Ha! “June, gone, up in a puff of smoke” Couldn’t resist! 🙂

    • I also went to check Deborah and I’ve sent him a message that I put up a blog post. African art is big news – new and vibrant sources and resources being used to make wonderful things of beauty. It’s about time … we have wonderfully creative artists here in this country.

      Yep, a few things going up in smoke just recently – a few fires on the horizon where I live, now contained a day or so ago.

      Thank you for coming by 🙂 Have a lovely weekend 🙂

  18. Thanks for sharing a wise recycling project that turns waste into beauty. We humans have to get better at this–and better at getting plastic out of the oceans. With much appreciation.

    • Thanks Elaine, the message of anti-pollution cannot be over emphasised. Are we getting better at this? I have to wonder …

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