How to make an ecobrick 生态塑料砖制作教程
Today, we are going to share a very different approach to plastic management. WE can turn these non-biodegradables into durable ecobricks to secure the plastic out of the
environment. The article below is step by step on how to make an ecobrick.
1. Choose your bottles
In general, you can take a used and unbroken plastic water bottle of any size with a cap. If you ecobrick for building modules, it’d be best to stick to the same type of bottles. For outdoor community builds, large bottles make good benches and small ones are good for walls. Make sure the interior of your bottles is clean and dry before stuffing plastic pieces in.
2. Prepare your plastics
Ranging from single-use plastic bags, packaging, straws, cellophane to Styrofoam any sort of non-biodegradable plastic can go inside an ecobrick bottle. Make sure there is no food, dirt, water alike that remains on the plastic, if so, rinse them off and dry them out first. It’s easiest if you cut or shred large piece of plastic into smaller ones to ensure the density of the brick.
3. Get your stick ready
Any stick will do, be it wooden, bamboo, or metal as long as it’s sturdy enough for compressing the plastic down the bottle and long enough for it to stick out of the bottle. Ensure it has a rounded tip instead of sharp corners since it can potentially break your bottle.
4. What does not go inside
The fundamental reason of ecobricking is to secure non-degradable plastic and prevent them from escaping into the environment to break down to microplastics and toxics, majority of which end up in the ocean and are mistakenly consumed by the marine animals. So anything that can be recycled, reused, composted, doesn’t go inside. Clean and dry plastic can ensure no microbiological growth.
5. Pack and weigh
To start off, pick a solid bottom color for your bricks, this is to make the designs and patterns of your future project possible. Use soft plastic first, this is to help the corners of the bottle be fully packed.
The minimum weight of an ecobrick is recommended by Global Ecobrick Alliance(GEA) to be bottle volume x 0.33g and maximum bottle volume x 0.7g. The minimum weight ensures the quality of the bricks and strong and safe constructions and maximize the bottle’s volume for securing plastic out of the environment.
6. Log and doate
Feel free to keep a log of your ecobricks and inscribe the key data onto the bottles, like your name, the date and weight, etc if you have permanent materials at hand for recording the information. Reach out to organizations and communities near you that accept them for various projects, namely, build benches, tables, chairs and green spaces.
We are still on the lookout for communities that accept ecobricks all across China, if you do know any, feel free to shoot an email at leo_ling1234@yahoo.com or contact us through wechat below. It will be truly appreciated.
References:
GICexpat
https://www.ecobricks.org/how/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecobricks
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/may/29/ecobricks-and-education-how-plastic-bottle-rubbish-is-helping-build-schools
据相关消息称，国家发展和改革委员会，国家生态和环境部已经揭露中国在未来五年内，将全面禁止或至少大规模减少对环境不友好塑料制品的使用和生产。但真正在具体国家政策落实之前，生活之中，总还是无法避免很多塑料制品的使用。今天，我们想和大家分享一个对塑料污染的不一样的解决途径。这些对环境造成巨大伤害的一次性塑料，可以通过简单的几个步骤，达到改造再利用的目的。我们称之为生态砖。
以下即如何制作生态砖的详细步骤。
1. 挑选塑料瓶
通常情况下，任何容量和形状的塑料瓶都适合做生态砖。但我们建议是尽量从小的容量开始，因为做一个生态砖的周期漫长，容量小的瓶能更快成品，这样可以大大促进你坚持下去的积极性。如果你的砖是用于家具及其它建筑组件的制作，我们建议你用同一个容量同一品牌的塑料瓶。对于室外的搭建，大瓶适合做凳子桌子，小瓶适合于围墙。在使用瓶之前，需要确认瓶完好无损，并有配套可以拧紧的盖子。确保瓶内无液体或者杂物，特别是食物残渣，如有此种情况，需先清洗晾干再使用。
2. 准备塑料
任何不可降解的一次性塑料用品，比如一次性塑料袋，包装，吸管，保鲜膜，泡沫塑料等等都可以放入塑料瓶。确保塑料没有食物，液体等残留。如果有的话，务必先清洗，晾干。在加入塑料之前，最好用剪刀将塑料剪成碎片，以便生态砖达到所需硬度。
3. 准备魔法棒
接下来，我们需要在家里找到一根合适的棍子。之所以称之为魔法棒，因为它可以像能施魔法似的将一次性塑料消失掉。棍子的选择比较自由，可以是任何材质，只要够坚固，长度够，但要确保棒的末端是比较平滑，圆整而不是带尖角，因为这样很容易弄坏塑料瓶。
4. 什么材料不能用于生态砖
生态砖制作最根本的原因是阻止对自然环境，特别是对海洋生物造成严重污染和伤害的一次性不可降解塑料的外流。一次性塑料需要几百年才能降解，它们首先会分解成微塑料颗粒，很多海洋动物都误当其成食物而吞食。所以，像可回收，可降解，可再利用，可堆肥的材料无需用于生态砖的制作。另外，食物残渣，液体等也不可进入瓶内，这些物质会造成细菌，微生物在瓶内滋生。
5. 装瓶和称重
在开始装瓶之前，先准备一些颜色比较鲜艳的塑料，像红，黄，绿，蓝等等都可以，单独将这些颜色的塑料剪碎装瓶。这样做的目的，是确保在之后，这些生态砖用做建筑时，可以用于各种图案的设计。然后，瓶子的底部塑料尽量用软质的，因为塑料瓶底部一般形状比较不规则，软的塑料可以保证任何空间的利用。在底部每次注入塑料之后，需用魔法棒将塑料压实。如此可以避免，像之后接近满瓶的时候，出现重量不够，再难以注入更多塑料的情况。
根据国际生态砖联盟(GEA) 的标准，生态砖的重量需在以下范围之内，重于塑料瓶容量乘以0.33g轻于瓶容量乘以0.7g。按此标准制作的生态砖，既能最大化利用每个塑料瓶又能确保建筑的稳定性和安全性。
6. 记录和捐赠
可以根据你的喜好，特别是你制作生态砖量比较大的情况下，最好做些记录和标注。在瓶上面可以用罐装瓷器漆等永久性书写材料标注你的姓名，制作日期和生态砖重量等信息。
最后，也是最重要的步骤，投入使用。联系你附近接受生态砖的学校，组织甚至个人。我们最近也在打听这些机构和个人，在云南昆明西山区大墨雨村，我们有看到一些房屋使用生态砖，但目前还没确定他们是否接受外赠。如果你周边有此类机构和个人，请和我们取得联系，十分感谢。邮箱联系方式 leo_ling1234@yahoo.com或者微信。
参考文章
GICexpat
https://www.ecobricks.org/how/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecobricks
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/may/29/ecobricks-and-education-how-plastic-bottle-rubbish-is-helping-build-schools