If you are concerned about the amount of plastic being thrown away, then you are not alone, many people now prefer to shop at independent zero-waste stores where they stock singular fruit and vegetables and have refill stations for washing up liquid and laundry detergent – sadly plastic is still a big part of our lives. If you are passionate about reducing your plastic usage, then you will want to have a go at making Eco Bricks; these are plastic bottles filled with soft plastics, and once they are filled with as much plastic as possible, they create a sturdy plastic brick. If you are a business owner that is in regular contact with hard to recycle materials, you may prefer to recycle these instead of making an Eco Brick; you can send your hard to recycle materials like styrofoam to companies such as https://www.printwaste.co.uk/business-recycling-solutions/, who offer a range of Business Recycling services to prevent waste going into landfill.
A variety of bottle sizes can be used to create an eco brick, and because plastic is a sturdy material that lasts for many years, they make a reliable building material – here’s how long different materials take to decompose. Eco Bricks can be used for many different building projects such as building houses, walls, making tables and chairs, you can even create your own garden planter. Indonesia is known to have a massive plastic problem, and a lot of their plastic waste ends up in rivers and in the ocean; as a country, they have started constructing Eco Bricks to tackle their plastic pollution problem. When using Eco Bricks for building work, it is typically the same process as if you were using normal bricks; constructing walls, or other buildings with cement will make it much stronger.
How to Make an Eco Brick
The supplies needed to make Eco Bricks are a Plastic Bottle (big or small), and soft plastics such as:
- Plastic Bags
- Photograph Paper
- Cling Film
- Polystyrene
- Soft Plastic Food Packaging
- Cling Film
- Plastic Cutlery
- Plastic Straws
- Soft Plastic Food Containers
- Crisp Packets
Make sure to choose a clean plastic bottle (this can be any size), and make sure it is clean; if you regularly drink coke, then these will make for great Eco Bricks. Don’t forget to take off the outside plastic wrapping to put in the Eco Brick.
Then you will need to gather your plastic up together; make sure that the plastic materials inside are clean and dry, as the plastic inside will be tightly packed. If the materials inside are dirty, this could lead to unhygienic growth, which may cause the bottle to swell up and crack.
Next, you will need to place the materials inside, to add the plastics to the small opening of the bottle, you will need a thin stick, like a wooden spoon, to poke the plastic materials inside the bottle; you can also use the wooden spoon to squash the plastic inside to make sure it’s packed tightly inside.
Once you have finished packing everything in, you need to make sure the bottle will be heavy and sturdy to use; a standard 500ml bottle should weigh up to 175g once it’s full of plastic – if it’s below that, you will need to keep packing. Don’t fill it up too much though, otherwise, you will not be able to put the bottle top on and this could cause a crack in the bottle.
Once you have completed your Eco Brick, the world is your oyster; why not make some planters in your garden, or create a playhouse den for your children.
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