EcoBricking: A new way to flight massive plastic problem

For the first week of the Sustainable Sunday Series, I wanted to share information about reducing unrecyclable waste that I first saw on social media called ecobricks. The fantastic thing about ecobricks is that anyone can make them, and it’s relatively easy. An ecobrick is a large recycled plastic bottle (cold brew, juice, soda bottles) filled with cleaned and dried non-recyclable plastic such as (styrofoam, bags, packaging, straws, and clear plastic). You cut the waste into pieces and make sure the other waste is tightly packed in the bottle by using some time of stick or handle. It's essential to create quality bricks and ensure they are the appropriate weight. It is crucial because they are used for building. An ecobrick's density must be higher than 0.33g/ml and no more than 0.37 g/ml. After that, all you do is cap the bottle, write your name, the bottle's final weight, date and year, and a unique serial number generated by their app (GoBrick App).

You can use these for your building projects, such as benches, green spaces, tables, art insolations, etc. People who complete an ecobrick can go on their new ecobrick marketplace GoBrik to connect people to help provide and receive bricks for projects.

Ecobricks emerged from the amount of waste seen around Lake Atitlán in Guatemala. Susanna Heisse was the first to see this massive plastic problem in the area and innovate a way to build a wall out of the plastic through what is now known as the ecobrick. Her colleagues then refined the process and brought it to South Africa and the Philippines. There has been massive growth in participation and new projects worldwide in the past few years.

Although ecobricking isn't going to solve the plastic problem or climate change itself, it's an example of a social company creating innovative environmental changes; by allowing people to create, and build with plastic that would most likely end in landfills. I encourage more communities to take part in designing sustainable architecture projects that involve ecobricks and other creative ways to use products that fit into a circular economy. I will be starting an ecobrick and would love to know if others are interested or currently making an ecobrick!

There is more information on the Ecobrick website ecobricks.org; the Global Ecobrikc Alliance (GEA) goes through the process step by step and has other great projects and resources.

https://www.ecobricks.org/circular/