Eco Friendly Construction Methods
Sustainability has become a central concern for all of us. Sustainability is the capability to utilize resources to meet one's needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. An unspoken area of sustainability is the evolution in construction techniques to reduce waste, energy and various inefficiencies at building sites. One of such techniques is the use of Eco Bricks in construction.
A massive problem created by plastics is that they are not easily biodegradable. Complete products of plastic are broken down into smaller pieces of plastics and they end up in water bodies. Researchers state that an average of eight million tons of plastic ends up in world oceans each year. Even plastic shopping bags that are labelled as 100% recyclable should be put under a specific process to be broken down for recycling, or they should be superheated to reach a level of biodegradability.
An Eco Brick acts as a solution to this problem. It is a building block made completely from unrecyclable plastic. An Eco Brick is created by filling an empty plastic bottle with clean and dry plastics until it’s packed tightly and can be used as a building block in construction. Eco Bricks have become a low-cost construction material that can be used to build sustainable buildings. It has also become a valid recycling method to reduce waste disposal in regions where industrial recycling is not yet available.
There are many other advantages of using Eco Bricks for construction. These Eco Bricks are very strong and constructions made out of them are more durable and earthquake-safe as they act as shock absorbers than normal constructions. Since Eco Bricks are made with plastic wastes which will otherwise be found littering the earth creating pollution, it is a sustainable action to use this waste for creating shelter for millions of people. The manufacturing cost of these types of bricks is very low. And also, these bricks can also provide a source of income to the poor, if they start making Eco Bricks and then selling them to constructors. These bricks, along with cost efficiency also provide an aesthetic look to the structure. As manufacturing of bricks cause air pollution, and the burning of polythene and plastic does the same, the use of Eco Bricks in place of conventional bricks will contribute to reducing the air pollution and carbon footprints at great rates.
Communities all around the world are considering Eco Bricks as an efficient and responsible option for building infrastructures at an affordable cost. “Hug it Forward” is an organization in Latin America that uses Eco Bricks as a solution to construct classrooms. These classrooms are environmentally-friendly and also provide a safe and comfortable learning environment at a lower cost than brick and mortar structures.
There are many more sustainable solutions in the area of constructions other than Eco Bricks. By utilizing and using these solutions and educating those around us about these methods, we together as a world can overcome the problems, we face in our day to day lives, as well as contributes towards creating a greener future for the generations yet to come.
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