2018 was definitely the year that our awareness heightened around pollution and the degree of harm that waste materials is having on our beautiful planet.
As a family we started to cut down on our plastic use following the BBC Blue Planet II series., like many,this has really affected us. Over the Christmas period we turned our thoughts on what else we could be doing. This is where we discovered Ecobricks.
How are we doing?
We are generally filling a bottle a week - you can fit a lot of plastic in one bottle - a long stick is required and compressing the plastic throughout the process really helps. In starting this process, as a family we have become so much more aware of what we can and can’t recycle and how much plastic ends up in our household. Packaging is easily the biggest culprit!
What are Ecobricks?
Ecobricks are essentially clean dry empty plastic bottles filled with other clean dry plastic.
Clean and dry is a crucial factor - any food residue has the potential to produce methane which can be explosive .
What are they used for?
Ecobricks are used as the inner/ insulating layer for making all sorts of structures from modular furniture, to garden structures, to whole buildings.
How have they developed?
The use of Ecobricks have developed organically around the world with Susana Heisse, in Guatemala in 2004 begging to encourage ecobricking as a building technique. In 2010, in the Northern Philippines, Russell Maier and Irene Bakisan developed a curriculum guide of simplified and recommended practices to help local schools integrate eco-bricks into their curriculum.
Ecobrick communities are fast developing world wide - the UK facebook group has almost 40 000 members.
Here’s how to make an eco brick
How do I get involved?
Within the UK, projects are happening. Your Ecobrick has to be a certain weight to ensure it has been packed tightly enough. You can register your ecobricks via https://www.ecobricks.org/start/. And also find drop off points . In the meantime, you can always try your own ecobrick project!
Useful links
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ecobricksUK/ - this is a UK based facebook community group
https://www.ecobricks.org/ - a great starting point for those of you interested.
https://www.gobrik.com/ - find out where you can exchange your ecobricks and also collect ecobricks for your project
https://wasteaid.org/ - sharing recycling skills from around the world
https://www.terracycle.co.uk - offers a range of recycling programs, helps you to find local programs and find support if you wish to set up your own program.
For professionals who work in an educational setting, ecobricks are a great way to get the children involved in recycling, gaining an insight into how much plastic is used and it opens up mindset into what can be recycled locally. If washing and drying plastic is a turn off for some settings - I would say start of with the clean plastic that is waste - there is more than enough to start with here!
Why not let us know about you eco brick experience or share any projects that you are working on.