Mexican Artist Melts Guns To Make Shovels For Tree Planting

Culiacán is a situated in western Mexico city. Sadly the beautiful town has the highest death rate from gun-related crime in the country.

Creative activist Pedro Reyes is an artist and a creative activist. He decided to create something positive out of a negative situation.

Pedro tackled the issue of guns head-on and started a campaign for residents to turn in their guns in exchange for coupons which could be used to buy electronics or other household appliances.

Pedro collected 1,527 guns for the project Palais por Pistolas (shovels for guns) that would turn them into brand new shovels for planting trees in the local botanical garden.

Some 40% of the guns he collected turned out to be military weapons.

The guns were transported to a military zone and publicly crushed with a steamroller. Then they were melted and recycled into 1,527 shiny shovels with wooden handles.

The new shovels have been distributed to a number of art institutions and schools. They are now used as productive tools to plant trees.
What a cool idea!