Friday 9th December 2016
Here at Paper Round we’re always excited when someone pushes recycling to new limits. And in one particular corner of paradise in Panama they’ve done just that…
Who knew saving the world could be so easy? This pioneering environmental community have made this green dream possible. You can come and live near one of Central America’s most stunning beaches and leave a positive environmental impact.
The walls of the houses. Photographs courtesy of https://www.plasticbottlevillage.com/english/
How? You may ask. Well, these green innovators are building a village of homes made out of recycled plastic bottles. This is a ground-breaking technique in eco-building, which uses plastic bottles as its main insulation inside of concrete walls. It doesn’t stop there; this method can be used to build everything from swimming pools and roads, to shelters and agriculture waterways!
Robert Bezeau is the man with the vision and his dreams reach far beyond the Plastic Bottle Village. He wants to build a training centre where anyone can learn the multitude of ways that plastic bottles can be reused.
The completed house. Photographs courtesy of https://www.plasticbottlevillage.com/english/
Maintaining the Waste Hierarchy these homes prioritise Reuse and Recycling. The homes, however, are also built to last in the most environmentally friendly way possible; they are earthquake-resistant; they stay cool in warm temperatures, so there is no need for air conditioning, reducing the carbon impact of these homes; and the community is solar-friendly.
According to Bezeau and his team, “The re-use of its core materials allows the Plastic Bottle Village to build homes in a fraction of the time and at a huge savings in the cost of re-construction, compared to the traditional materials used locally.”
Sounds like heaven to us – where can we sign up?
