Ecobricks
Disposal of nonbiodegradable substances has become an issue of major concern nowadays. Mounds of garbage has been created over the earths surface and in our oceans. In order to deal with this problem a new concept of ecobricks also known as bottle bricks is trending. Ecobricks are a new class of building material which is made up of plastic bottles and are filled with plastic wastes, sometimes with soil, and can be further used for construction purposes.
These are energy and resource efficient bricks and can be used to make garden spaces partition walls and full scale buildings such as schools and houses.Use of these bricks reduces the construction cost as well as reduction of the land pollution.
Plastic is a nonbiodegradable substance which takes hundreds to thousands of years to decompose and hence creating land pollution as well as water pollution.Taking into account the increase of pollution, a new concept of eco bricks has been introduced.
Eco bricks are also knows as bottle bricks .These bricks are manufactured by using non-biodegradable wastes such as plastic bottles, plastic bags and wrappers, soil and other non-bio-degradable substances. Use of such bricks helps in reducing the overall cost of the buildings.
Do’s in making eco bricks:
Use bottles of uniform sizes
Cut large plastic bags in small pieces for proper compaction
Compress each layer with the help of bamboo stick after filling each layer
Material inside the brick should be compacted in such a way so that it can withstand the weight of a person standing over for compression test without any deformation
Place the cap tightly on the mouth of the bottle
Don’ts in making eco bricks
Don’t use sharp edged materials such as pin blade or nail etc.
The bottle as well as filler material should be free from moisture
Effect of plastic on wildlife:
Birds get caught up in plastic bags and ultimately dies due to starvation.Plastic bags, once ingested cannot be digested or passed by animals so it stays in the gut,leading to the very slow and painful death of the animals. Thousands of whales, birds, seals and turtles are killed every year from plastic litter as they mistake plastic bags for food such as jellyfish.
Impact of plastic on environment:
Chlorinated plastic can release harmful chemicals into the surrounding soil, which can then seep into groundwater or other surrounding water sources and also the ecosystem. This can cause serious harm to the species that drink the water.
Components of plastics currently being studied for their health effects include polyhalogenated flame retardants, polyfluorinated compounds (known as PFOS or PFOA) and antimicrobial compounds such as triclosan and tricocarban.
Soil can also be used as a filling material to make ecobricks. When filling the bottle with soil, make sure to compact properly in order to attain maximum compressive strength. Soil filled ecobricks provides insulation to the building, as well as making the building bullet proof. Disposal of soil as well as plastic becomes easier.
This type of construction is more durable than that of brick construction. The bottles can last between 300 – 500 years. The cost of this type of construction could be as much as 33% cheaper than a house made of concrete and bricks.
The advantages of using ecobricks over conventional bricks are: low cost, non-brittle, absorbs abrupt shock loads, bio climatic, reusable, less construction material, easy to build, light weight, strong, enviromentally friendly.
For people who live below the poverty line and cannot even afford basic necessities, ecobricks can act as a boon for constructing their shelter with the minimum cost. As ecobricks are made with total waste which is otherwise filled in the lap of earth creating air as well as water pollution, hencethis waste can be used for creating shelter for millions of people.
Manufacturing cost of these types of bricks is very low. Moreover these bricks are made with the material which is otherwise harmful for human beings, animals as well as for the environment.These bricks can also provide source of income to the poor people if they start making ecobricks and then selling these bricks.
These bricks along with cost efficiency, also provide an aesthetic look to the structure and hence can be used to give a pleasing look. As manufacturing of bricks cause air pollution, use of eco bricks in place of conventional bricks will contribute in reducing the air pollution.
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