Eco-Bricks
What is an Eco-brick?
An eco-brick is a plastic bottle packed with shredded, single-use, non-recyclable plastics, compressed to a required density to create a reusable building block. They are a sustainable way to reusenon-biodegradable plastic waste as they are regarded as a long-lasting and durable material.
Eco-bricks = a low energy solution to keeping plastic out of the ecosystem!
What is the purpose of an eco-brick?
Making an eco-brick can be a tedious and time-consuming project (but great to do whilst watching TV!) and the purpose of it is to make you responsible for your own plastic waste and encourage you to reduce your own consumption.
The aim is to help you cut down on what you’re buying and ultimately produce less waste whilst creating something beneficial for yourself or the community!
What goes into the eco-brick?
The most important thing about an eco-brick is that the contents are CLEAN and DRY before they get stuffed. The reason for this is to prevent any bacteria or mould forming inside, which will undo all your hard work as they will not be validated!
You can put inside an eco-brick:
Potato chip, biscuit, cake packets etc.
Stretchy plastic e.g., carrier bags, bread bags, clingfilm etc.
Pasta/rice packets
Packaging – bubble wrap/plastic envelopes
Styrofoam/polystyrene
Hard plastic – meat trays, flowerpots etc (however, hard plastics will need to be cut up into much smaller pieces than soft plastic to allow you to reach the weight requirements)
What can I make with an eco-brick?
The most common personal projects are footstools! They can be as small or as large as you want, you can be creative with the bottle bottom colours to make a cool pattern or cover them in some fabric to make a decorative piece around the house!
There are other smaller projects you can make, like doorstops for example! I am personally taking inspiration from this one found on Pinterest:
Ok, so how do I make one?
It is very simple! The picture below shows you how in 5 simple steps. The key is to just keep stuffing until you can’t any more! With time and patience, your brick will come to life.
Poll: Is dumping an issue in your neighbourhood?
There's nothing worse than strolling around the streets in your neighbourhood and seeing dumped rubbish.
Have you noticed this in your area? What could we do to combat this around the country?
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42.2% Yes, I've seen some illegal dumping
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57.1% No, our neighbourhood is pretty good
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0.8% Other - I'll share below
Is this yours?
A framed copy of the Victoria cross was handed into the Palmerston North Police Station and we are hoping to reunite it with the owner.
If this is yours, and you can prove ownership, please contact 105 referencing file number 241007/0350.
This one was sent in by your fellow neighbour, can you figure it out?
What is first white then red and the plumper it gets the more the old lady likes it?
Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.
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