by Cdr. Bud Slabbaert
Sargassum is biomass and not a weed. Nature gives you this biomass at no cost and it is delivered to your doorstep for free. “Nice, but what am I going to do with this freaking stinking mess?” Ding dong, mass, not mess.
You don’t have to dig, drill or pump to get it. It is there for the taking. When you get a freebie and you make something out of it, you’ll make a 100% turnover. That may sound naïve, but it is not stupid. Actually some get paid for removing this giveaway, but then what to do with it?
Making something out of it, means work which has a price. Work also means employment which benefits members of a community. Making something may also mean equipment. But depending on productivity of the equipment, costs will go down and profits may increase. If the equipment is any kind of machinery investment, it means depreciation, spreading the investment cost over an extended period and again costs go down and profit numbers may improve.
The key is to think, improvise and come up with ideas. Have a positive attitude. Take an inventory of what you have. Figure out what might be the best potential for it. Look what you have on hand. Set your own expectations and those of who you be offering your product at an appropriate level. This “slapped together” will set the right tone. You will be pleased with the result. Your mother or your better half has to deal with this dilemma daily in the kitchen when making dinner. Maybe female leadership comes to mind. And just to get things straight, I’m not suggesting cooked sargassum as the meal of the day.
“I’ve got plenty of nothing. So, what am I supposed to do?” Nothing may be plenty for you if you put a thinking cap on. Mindset is everything when it comes to building your wealth. Some of the wealthiest people in the world have built seven- or eight-figure fortunes from essentially nothing, without high-powered academic degrees or inherited wealth. Some of them started out even with a negative net worth and became worth millions.
It will begin with a plan. It may take more than one person to do the planning and even the implementation of it. Ever heard of the words “I love when a plan comes together”. Maybe put your own A-Team together, a squad of diverse bright and motivated friends, family members, or local talents and make it iconic. Don’t think overly ego centric of creating a monopoly. Unless, well, ….. ‘Union Fait La Force’ (Unity is strength) is the national motto of my country of origine. Do some brainstorming.
It will be quite a challenge to put numbers on paper for a business forecast. Because there are no historical data to draw from for detailing how the activity expects metrics like revenue, expenses, profit, and cash flow to change over time. But then think again about the above-mentioned millionaires who didn’t have a ‘no-can-do’ attitude but rather a ‘yes-we-can’ boldness.
So what can we do with sargassum? Do some research online. There are several examples of how it is used. You may be inspired to create an idea of your own once you find out what the sargassum has hidden inside. Some areas where it is already used: Construction building blocks/bricks,
Sustainable agriculture and fertilizer, Aquaculture and animal feed, Bioplastics and sustainable packaging, Biofuel production, Cosmetics and skincare, Pharmaceutical and medical applications, Environmental remediation. Maybe a local brainy mind will come up with a new innovative idea, like creating a piece of art from it. ‘Artis Natura Magistra’ – Nature is the teacher of art.
If nothing else, let it be known that a company on the Dominican Republic is using six 40-foot containers to ship it to Finland for cosmetic production. A bio refinery processes it into high value ingredients like alginate and fucoidan. If you absolutely want to know, alginates are a type of carbohydrate that can form a barrier to prevent stomach acids. Fucoidan is known for its potential health benefits, including anticancer properties, anti-inflammatory effects, and possible support for those with osteoarthritis and viral infections. Forget it, just notice the words high value ingredients that many don’t expect from the stinky stuff on the beach. The biomass has been shipped to ten other countries, some of them are converting 50% of the sargassum into bioplastics. Yet, how much sense does it make to be sending this seaweed, that weighs a lot, across the world to then process it, when a business or industry could be developed locally and create more jobs.
The fact is, that there is increasing commercial and research interest in developing ways to put the abundant and seemingly sustainable resource to use as the annual sargassum inundation has become a ‘new normal’ with increasing proportions. It is an art to transform an environmental nuisance into value chains. Does the popular saying ‘lead, follow or get out of the way’ mean anything in this context?
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All I know that it’s toxic and can damage your electronics
To the opinion writer Cdr. Bud Slabbaert
Caribbean Governments are waiting for a hand out through some international agencies or doners.
Unless someone comes to help them they are stuck. Whether it’s LIAT 2020 in Antigua and Barbuda or Exxon Chevron in Guyana.
There are so many things that could be done in transport both air and water transport that would boost productivity and the economies.
Our place of higher education are stuck in the model handed to the by University College London.
Has any branches of UWI produce anything that’s considered innovative or graduated individuals who have started companies that has been successful in markets beyond the Caribbean?
No top 50 school in the US does not have a program in Real state development.
Prior to 1975 there was no such thing as a real estate course at Wharton Columbia or Harvard
With the advent of Lotus 123, spreadsheet became electronic.
No longer did accounts use adding machines to analyze real estate prospects
Visicalc and Lotus 123 allowed for individual to carry out real estate analysis with spreadsheets in there Texas Instruments or Casio calculators.
Our young people attend regional Universities that offers social science, law and medicine.
PMS no longer offers technical training to go along with passing the height school test
Innovation is not part of the culture and more important; those who engage in straight forward entrepreneurial activities has to walk a political tight rope.
For many it’s safer to keep their heads down with a government limited private sector job where all is needed go through the daily routine and work towards a pension.
While your opinion has merit; the reality is the culture does not exist for you ideas.