This project aims to use plastic bottles, glass bottles, aluminum cans and other recycled materials for construction of buildings. It is a project which is meant for about 100 houses, women with children living in extreme poverty. This way will not only help with recycling, but also save the ecosystem and at the same time solve a housing problem.
The first house made of bottles was "Warnes" which was built in the village of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.
This new center gives adequate housing to each of the people in need, sustains a legacy about the construction using any object with the same material, and may in one way or another create new things with the used bottles.
What's the Idea?
This project came about by luck, Ingrid Vaca, the creator of the construction method kept bottles in her backyard. She gave them to a woman who pick them up frequently. The recycling woman would be in her yard every week which caused some discomfort for Ingrid's household. Her husband demanded that they reuse the bottles somehow, "you have enough to make a home". Thus the idea of helping the needy in a different way by utilizing the labor and decreasing the costs of creating a roof where they live.
How is it Made?
For the construction of these houses, the bottles are filled with disposable materials such as paper, garbage bags, sand or dirt. After filling the bottles, each should weigh ~3.6 kilos each, in order to make the walls as durable as concrete. Each are placed and fastened with an equal lacing. For example, one square meter will consist of 81 bottles while the walls are 40 inches wide.
Project Features
- Help the needy
- Contributes to the care of the environment
- Highlights new and exciting materials for construction
- Unify the community
- Ecological project
- Social project
What are the Intentions?
After completing the project, it was turned into into a resort, which included a water park and ponds, in order to show the reliable construction techniques which more women may replicate to employ and extend the project worldwide.
References
Casa Ecologica de reciclaje, hecha con botellas