Bottle School Projects Take Learning to New Levels

If discarded plastic bottles can be turned into countertops, bedding, graduation gowns, and athletic apparel, then why not use them to build something greater – like a school?

There have been numerous accounts of schools that have been constructed from recycled bottles, in countries including the Philippines and Guatemala. Reportedly the first of its kind in Asia, the school in San Pablo which is a province in the Philippines, is made out of 1.5 and 2-litre bottles filled with adobe. Conceived and constructed by social entrepreneur Illac Diaz and nonprofit MyShelter Foundation, the new school was donated by the local government of San Pablo, built with the help of volunteers. Not only were the bottles donated costing nothing; studies showed that the adobe filling used is cheaper than concrete and about three times stronger than cement.

There are also the bottle school projects in Guatemala, six of which are already up and running, with four more in progress. The first was built in Granados in 2009 using a construction method pioneered by Pura Vida — filling plastic bottles with inorganic trash, before stacking them between chicken wire and covering them in cement. In the Granados project over 5,000 plastic bottles were used to construct two classrooms, containing 2053lbs of trash and using 9720lbs of cement. 297 children are currently attending the school, which, like the others, was built for around USD 10,000.

Similar in many ways to the Save the Beach Hotel, bottle schools are not just a clever way to turn waste into something useful, they also serve as a reminder of all the waste that's being generated in the first place. One to be inspired by!

Websites: www.bottleschoolproject.org and www.bottleschools.com

Banned Plastic Bottles

Concord's (a town in America) Town Meeting has just approved a ban on the sales of bottled water. I do understand their concern of plastic bottles but I think it is a bit over the line right. Wouldn't it be better to instead just sell bottled water in recycled plastic and teach the community about the importance of recycling? Or better still, only sell recycled products or beverages packaged in recycled materials.

I think this would be more practical then banning plastic bottles. I mean, the production of glass requires alot of energy as well, aluminum and steel cans are made out of toxic ores extracted from the ground by mining , not to mention that mining is dangerous and the environmental costs are huge. And not as if they are banning all plastic bottles. They still allow the sales of sweet drinks in plastic bottles so people who are thirsty have no choice but to buy these unhealthy choice instead. If you want to ban it, ban it all the way.

We've been banned!!

There are too many tourists heading to Gangotri, Valley of Flowers and highly eco-sensitive zones of the Garhwal Himalayas in Uttarakhand.

According to a rough estimate, thousands of pilgrims, who visit the hill state during the Kumbh, Chardham and Kanwar and other religious congregations, travel to these areas leaving heaps of non-degradable waste, including plastic, which are hazardous to environment. The Centre has decided to ban 2 key hydropower projects in the region last month and the state government has decided not to allow tourists to come near the Gaumukh glacier, the origin of the Ganga in Uttarkashi district.

In 2008, the government had restricted the number of tourists visiting Gaumukh and other Gangotri glaciers to only 150 per day. Another move is afoot to even restrict the number of tourists to 100 in future. According to a report of the Dehra Dun-based Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG), the glaciers are melting at a rate of 17-23 metres per year. The issue had become more contentious in the wake of controversy surround the inter-governmental panel on climate change (IPCC). Similarly, the government is trying to put restrictions on pilgrims to Hemkund Sahib and other shrines which are close to the Valley of Flowers, a world heritage site. Thousands of Sikhs travel every year to Hemkund Sahib, which is situated in an area known for its rich flora and fauna, and leave huge waste. The government had restricted the entry of tourists to the 14-km long area of the Nandadevi Biosephere Reserve few years ago. The government is also planning to carry a renewed campaign through tourist brochures and media telling travelers to remain sensitive to these areas with the slogan: “Leave only footprints and take only memories.” Why does it seem like we are irresponsible kids instead of thinking adults?

Tip of the day: Recycle your recyclables. It is one of the main steps to a greener you and a better life :)

Will we ever learn? (Part 1)

So last night I went to Stereophonics concert, who decided to start one and a half hour later. Rockstars.

I guess age is catching up to me so I am getting abit more impatient. And plus their stage presence wasn't that great. I might as well pop in their dvd on a large screen and press play. So overall it was all just ok.

What disappointed me the most is that everyone is talking about recycling and going green but there was no recycling bin to be found at the concert venue, which was held at Fort Canning Park.

As the night progressed, more and more litter was collected on the grass instead of the bin. I only saw one bin on the left hand side of the park which was slowly being filled with mainly cans and plastic bottles. And guess what were the main leftover of these litter-friendly concert goers? Beer cans and plastic bottles, which could all be recycled. These events companies should provide a recycling bin at all events.

Placing it there is a huge statement on its own. It will make people think twice about just disposing recyclable materials in the regular bin or littering. But the saddest thing about whole thing is that these people are all of a matured crowd.... If we adults can't even be responsible enough to not litter, then what about the simplest act of recycling? When are we ever gonna grow up....

Let's go sailing on the Plastiki!

The Plastiki is Mr. David de Rothschild's (youngest heir to the fortune of Europe's oldest and most respected banking families) boat made out of 12,500 recycled plastic bottles.

As of today, he has travelled 76 nautical miles which equals to the length of 481,536 plastic bottles. All these plastic bottles are only 0.0080% of what is being thrown away by Americans alone. The entire project aims to focus global awareness on the thoughtless, unnecessary damage plastic inflicts on the world’s oceans and potentially guide people towards more constructive ways to re-use plastic. During the next 90 days the crew, directed by skipper Jo Royle, will travel about 11,000 nautical miles from San Francisco, California to Sydney, Australia.

The so-called Great Pacific Garbage patch is a focal point of the expedition. Ocean currents from North American and Asian shores sweep along floating plastic, funneling it towards the island of trash, which is already larger than France and Germany combined and this is only 50% of all plastic products that end up in the ocean. Imagine if it's 100% of all the plastic products, it can create it's own continent with it's own plastic people :). The patch also has serious implications for pollution such as Polychlorinated Byphenyls (PCB) or DDT and could have serious health impacts if they’re absorbed into fish consumed by people.

This expedition is not trying to tell us that plastic is bad so let's ban it for good but to tell us people to re-use and recycle plastic instead of throwing it away to the dumps. It is a recyclable product so why not just recycle it? It is not much of an effort putting it in the recycling bin. Would you like it if your neighbour litters your home? No right. Well that's what we are doing to the our neighbour, the Ocean. Let's be responsible individuals and recycle. It is not that hard.

Tip of the day: See above! Don’t be Trashy - Recycle!!