Creating Eco Bricks
By this point in time, probably most people in the UK are aware that, from an environmental perspective, not only is reducing, reusing and recycling the path to sustainability, but it is also the order of preference for each of the options.
In other words, the most environmentally-friendly option by far is to reduce both what we consume and the amount of waste we create. Only then should we look at reusing and recycling. This is a great blueprint for future behaviour and, for much of history, it was standard behaviour for people of all income levels, but it still leaves the problem of dealing with the existing waste from the latter part of the 20th century.
The legacy of the late 20th century
Plastic started to hit the mainstream in the 1960s, the era of formica-topped tables and space-themed lamps and, bit by bit, or perhaps it would be better to say, bag by bag and bottle by bottle, it literally began to take over the world – and much of it is still very much here. From an environmental perspective its pure bad news regardless of where it is lurking. The issue of plastic in the oceans has been widely publicized, but there is also plenty of it inland, causing trouble for land-based creatures. It’s also an eyesore and an inducement to people to leave more litter. Even though people may know, in principle, that if they do have waste they should either put it in a bin (preferably for recycling) or take it home with them (for disposal or recycling), if they see a place is already full of waste/litter, there may be a temptation to think “what’s a bit more” and save themselves the hassle.
Cleaning up the past
The good news is that people in the UK are now taking it upon themselves to clean up the past, literally. This is particularly in evidence in coastal areas where the incoming tide generally brings a deposit of plastic with it. Cleaning it up, however, is only part of the story. It still needs to be reused or recycled in some way, otherwise, it will just go to landfill, which is only a net gain from an aesthetic perspective, not from an environmental one. Unfortunately, there’s an awful lot of plastic out there which can’t be recycled (or at least not easily), which means finding a way to reuse it.
Creating eco-bricks
Eco-bricks are one potential solution to this problem. They are made using plastic waste which would otherwise have gone to landfill. The most common form of eco-brick is a plastic bottle filled with different sorts of plastic waste to ensure that all the space in the bottle is filled up, thus providing it with maximum strength. Any kind of bottle can be used, the only important point is that the bottle is completely clean and dry before it is filled. Likewise, the filling used should be clean, dry, non-recyclable plastic. As a rule of thumb, you want to use a mixture of materials, starting with small pieces to fill up any odd shapes at the bottom of a bottle, before moving on to larger pieces in the main body and then smaller ones toward the neck. You want to fill up the bottle completely so that all the air is completely squeezed out before you seal it. Basically, by the time you seal it, your eco-brick should feel as solid as a regular building brick. If you can still squeeze it, then there is air inside and you need to put in more filling. As a final check, you can try weighing your eco-brick, it should way about a third of the stated volume, for example, a 330ml bottle should weigh about 110g.
