Reviving Paradise – Turning waste into wonderful EcoBricks [WATCH]
EcoBricks are a definite ‘thing’ in our repertoire, for a few reasons.
The Green Net has just turned six years old!
Yip, and ironically, we’re still saying a lot of the same things we were back then before the pandemic as not too much has really changed. As anyone who has seen us at markets or events knows, EcoBricks are a definite ‘thing’ in our repertoire, for a few reasons. It’s a simple system of recycling that is accessible to everyone that requires no special equipment or capital – my personal favourite ‘compactor’ is a feather duster.
EcoBricks are usually 2L cold drink PET plastic bottles packed densely with clean and dry (to prevent the growth of bacteria), non-recyclable plastic waste which are used as durable building blocks for eco-friendly construction, and we’ve built a few benches over the years in Sea Park, Umtentweni, Louisiana and Munster.
The concept has been embraced by Barbara Lawrence-Strydom of The Africa I SEE NPC and, what started as a single memorial bench commissioned at Secret Sands in Glenmore, has turned into a legacy project that launched on International Women’s Day on March 8.
It will continue as the In-Visible Women ecHo bench project, creating at least seven benches and planting 700 indigenous and fruit trees nationally to commemorate our national 70-year anniversary of the Women’s March on parliament. The project was birthed to remember those women who we see as impactful and yet are often overlooked, both present and past.
There’s nothing complicated or difficult about making EcoBricks. It’s easy if you keep your bottle close to your bin, and just pop the waste in there instead. You will be astonished at how much it can contain and how long it takes to fill one brick to such a compaction that you can stand on it without it buckling. No biodegradables are used and we suggest that you start with soft plastic to fill those bottom protrusions; the secret is really a life hack – start off the way you plan to carry on, compacting regularly layer by layer.
It’s a good idea to turn the bottle around to help fill the voids and ensure the solidity of the compaction – you can’t ‘catch up’ after a certain point. EcoBricks provide a low-tech solution for sequestering plastic from the biosphere, transforming waste into something useful for example, benches, walls, or raised garden beds.
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