Ecobrick is an environmentally friendly brick made by recycling. Unlike brick in general, this brick is made of a collection of plastic waste that is inserted in a bottle that is also made of plastic.
So far, garbage has become a classic problem that is quite trivial but cannot be completely overcome. Based on information from Tuti Hendrawati Mintarsih, Director General of Waste, Waste and B3 Management (Hazardous and Toxic Materials) from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry stated that the total amount of Indonesian waste will reach 68 million yon by 2019, and the resulting plastic waste is expected to reach 9.52 million tons or about 14 percent of the total waste.
Another surprising finding comes from data from Jenna Jambeck, a garbage researcher from the University of Georgia who found that Indonesia ranked second in the world for the biggest plastic waste producer after China. The amount of plastic waste produced by Indonesia reached 187.2 million tons and China reached 262.9 million tons.
This waste problem is further aggravated by the lack of public awareness of how to manage it, especially plastic waste. As is often mentioned that plastic is a material that is very difficult to decipher. It takes 1 millennium or about 1000 years for the plastic to decompose. If plastic waste is destroyed by burning, the Dioxy substance produced will only become pollution that can cause health hazards.
Ecobrick Solution to Overcome Plastic Waste
Environmentally friendly brick can be one solution to solve the problem of plastic waste. We should apply the 3R principle, namely Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle as an effort to overcome plastic waste that can be applied in a simple but effective way, namely Ecobrick.
Ecobrick is a method of minimizing waste through the art of managing plastic or inorganic waste that is not used by putting it in a plastic bottle until it is fully filled and really hard and solid.
The goal of environmentally friendly bricks is to reduce plastic waste and recycle it into something more useful. This method was initiated by Russell Maier who has proven that environmentally friendly bricks are effective in reducing plastic waste in Canada.
How to make an Ecobrick
The first thing that needs to be prepared in making this brick is various kinds of plastic either in the form of bags, packaging, or straws, etc. These items are certainly very easy to find around us because almost every product packaging using plastic materials.
Second, choose a plastic bottle that will become a medium for making this environmentally friendly brick. You can choose bottled mineral water, soda water bottles or other plastic bottles.
Third, prepare a wooden stick of sufficient length, more or less according to the height of the bottle used. This stick is needed to push the plastic in and compact it into a bottle. Sticks can be made of wood or bamboo.
Fourth, start inserting plastic into the bottle using a small stick and make sure there are no metals, paper, glass, and bio-degradable plastic (biodegradable plastic) because these objects can be useful for other purposes. You can add colored plastic to give an artistic impression to the environmentally friendly brick.
Fifth, fill the bottle until it is hard and solid. The bottle must be really solid, but not too hard because it will actually damage the plastic bottle and the trash that has entered will be scattered again. If the bottle is broken means that the bottle is not that strong and you have to find a stronger bottle to make it again. For plastic that is too large, first, cut it into small pieces.
Sixth, after finishing making bricks, weigh the bottles. The average weight for a 600 ml bottle is 200 grams and an average 1.5-liter bottle is 500 grams. Finished bricks can be used to make tables, chairs, and even fill the construction of panel or river embankment wall.
Is the manufacturing process easy enough? So, what are you waiting for, immediately try to make this environmentally friendly brick. It sounds trivial, but the resulting impact is very influential on the environment of our planet. Let’s reduce plastic waste pollution by making Ecobrick.
