Whilst most of the world is concerned about the ill effect of plastic bags, plastic bottles are a big concern too. Plastic bottles contain Bisphenol A (BPA), a  chemical which has been proven to be highly risky to human health. It is often linked with health problems such cancer, neurological difficulties, early puberty in girls, reduced fertility in women, premature labour, and defects in newborn babies and many more. According to dropsofbalance.com report, 50 billion water bottles are consumed each year by people in general. Plastic bottles take hundreds of years to biodegrade. In this context, Nigeria represents an unique idea to counter this essential problem and have shown the world ways to use it to its advantage.

Have you thought of building houses with plastic bottles? Well! Somebody did.

Nigeria has made something exemplary that you cannot but only appreciate. They are  basically using plastic bottles to create essential buildings. Under- developing country such as Nigeria reportedly throws out almost away 3 million plastic bottles each day and where the housing shortage has been persistent and there is an urgent need for 17 million more housing units. Nigerian people have made use of plastic bottles to counter the problem of housing units. This idea is highly innovative and nothing short of brilliance.

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Just think about it, this makes complete sense. Probably some others might have thought of this as well, but the implementation is the key. This reform has been the result of minute detailing and use of things innovatively. Use of methane gas from animal and human waste together with solar panels provides the complete energy to run the houses.These houses have zero carbon emissions. Different items of litter, mixed with mud and filled with sand, when used alongside plastic bottle serve as an ideal building material for building houses.

A big shout goes to the minds involved in this endeavour. This innovative idea to make use of the plentiful item of waste and then turning it into eco-friendly homes was initiated by Kaduna, Nigeria-based Non Government Organization, DARE, (Development Association for Renewable Energies) along with London-based NGO Africa Community Trust.

Even though it might seem a new concept but they had been existing since archetypical times. Bottles have been used quite innovatively since generations to build homes. Given below are few examples of other projects:

Les Maisons de Boteilles or The Bottle Houses, built in Canada in the 1960s

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Charlie Stagg is an East Coast educated but Texas born and bred artist who created this house starting in the 1960’s

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At Cap-Egmont in Prince Edward Island, where he was a lighthouse-keeper, Edouard Arsenault started collecting bottles in 1979. In 1981, the first Bottle House was open to the public.

                                                                       Image Source- treehugger.com

In Serbia, teacher Tomislav Radovanov used 13,500 plastic bottles to build his house

                                                                        Image Source- dornob.com

Watch video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaFO95Ord_I

Examples are plentiful. Do not for a second misunderstand that using plastic bottles for building home is a new concept. It has been prevailing for centuries. The ways, structures, an architectural design might have varied but the concept has been there for generations. Probably in the age of urbanization and pollution, buildings with used plastic bottles could be the next logical stage forward. The plastic bottles are  cheap, strong and unique in diversity and could act up a substitute of cement blocks in the near future. Bottle up and keep innovating!

Curated by a Building Expert from Wienerberger India

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