Reddit 9 Pin 67 Shares

Houses and various other buildings made of recycled plastic bottles is steadily increasing in popularity. Not only in third world countries where building materials are sparse and pollution thick, but for everyone in all countries as an excellent alternative to expensive housing. Building a structure using plastic bottles is not only an excellent way of re-purposing plastic, one of the most difficult substances for the earth to digest and break down, but also as an incredibly effective housing unit for much less cost, better overall health, and just as much pay-off as any other style of home.

Homes made with plastic bottles are not only fire-proof and bullet-proof, they are also very well-insulated and self-sufficient, maintaining a temperature of around 64 degrees Fahrenheit year-round. Not to mention long-lasting, and earthquake resistant, among other bonuses!

Millions upon billions of plastic water and beverage bottles are used and discarded every year. Most end up making their way into a landfill, at the bottom of the ocean, or polluted along the ground. In developing countries this waste usually ends up getting mounded into large garbage piles by the heap. Whereas in more wealthy nations this waste is recycled, though not nearly all of it. In fact, about 80% of plastic bottles do not get recycled and end up taking up space in a landfill.

By collecting plastic bottles to build a home or structure; either via personal recycling, community service, or donations made by hotels, restaurants, and residencies – the earth will be saved a large portion of plastic indigestion. It takes about 14,000 bottles of uniform size to build a two-bedroom bottle home complete with kitchen, toilet, and living room.

Next is needed enough sand or soil that gets compacted into each of the bottles, turning them into solid, plastic covered bricks. These bricks are then used as a basis with which to build a solid structure. Also, these bricks could be added on top of a concrete or wooden foundation, or set into a gravel and cement filled trench in the earth for added stability.

A wall made of these “bottle bricks” is up to 20 times stronger than a wall constructed of concrete cinder blocks.

Once these eco-friendly bricks are filled with soil or sand, ordinary mortar is used to hold them together, as in regular masonry. Doorways and windows can be included and implemented during construction as like any other home. As for roofing, a common choice is to use corrugated metal nailed to wooden roof trusses that have been erected over the house walls.

Bottle homes are incredibly affordable, well-insulated and sturdy. They are estimated to cost around 1/3 of an average house made with concrete and bricks. They are also much healthier than economy housing, which poses the risk of several health concerns depending on how many chemical-laden building materials the home was made of.

To further make them appealing, bottle homes are often built in a circular fashion rather than square or rectangle, unlike most other homes. This way they are more convenient to build, provides the home with extra strength and support, as well as adds an artistic and pleasing appearance.

These homes can also be built to become ‘energy autonomous’ and self-sufficient by adding such amenities as a fuel-efficient clean cook stove, solar panels, water purification tanks, aquaponics, urine filtration fertilization systems, among several others.

Aside from operating as a home, these bottle bricks can be used to create all kinds of buildings. Perhaps as a small ‘getaway home’ up in the mountains, as a storage shed or root cellar, raised garden bed, decorative wall, or perhaps as an outhouse or guest home, among so many other ideas.



Bottle bricks are a great way to build homes and other structures in an affordable yet incredibly eco-friendly way, helping to minimize the ever-growing pollution problem. Using this method is also a great idea to solve homelessness around the World. Truly the only main struggle to building homes made with plastic bottles is to find an area of land without building codes or construction laws. Yet hopefully in time, either when more people and businesses become aware of this alternative option or when our pollution crisis hits an all-time high, homes and buildings made of recycled plastic bottles will become more common-place. ♥

Sources:

(1) https://i.ytimg.com/vi/vfJWnPbQEY8/maxresdefault.jpg

(2) http://media.treehugger.com/assets/images/2011/11/nigeria-plastic-bottle-house1.jpg.650x0_q70_crop-smart.jpg

(3) http://cdn.goodshomedesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Houses-with-Plastic-Bottles.jpg

(4) http://www.ecofriendlyhouses.net/uploads/images/plastic-bottle-house.jpg

(5) https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/14/3f/fe/143ffe8375b108857d83f93543d1f166.jpg

Image: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/6icdqIOfLO4/maxresdefault.jpg

.