On the western coast of Africa lies one of the most populous countries in the world. Nigeria - a country with a rich natural and cultural heritage, a fast growing economy; yet plagued with violence, health problems, poverty and some serious environmental issues. Many non-governmental organizations strive hard to make the life of Nigerians a bit better and this time they have hit the bull's eye by creating something unique and path breaking - A house built of recycled plastic bottles!
With poor hygiene provisions, drinking tap water is considered unsafe in Nigeria and hence, many people prefer consuming bottled water. This surge, in use of bottled water, has led to a huge waste of plastic bottles. Every year, millions of plastic bottles are dumped into landfills and waterways causing erosion, pollution, irrigation blockages and health problems. So, an NGO decided to take matter into their hands and put these environmental hazards into something useful. Building houses of recycled plastic bottles is their initiative and it is proving very successful and gaining lot of popularity amongst the Nigerians as well as globally.
The project was started in northern Nigeria, in a village named Yelwa, which is garnering a lot of attention due to these "magic" houses. A sturdy concrete foundation is laid to make sure that the structure will be stable and firm. After that, plastic bottles are filled with dry soil or construction waste and then laid in rows like bricks. The bottles are bound together with mud and walls are constructed. Around 8000 bottles are used for each house, which consists of a living room, bedroom, kitchen and a toilet. The houses are built in a typical North Nigerian circular style and look beautiful from outside as a lovely design is created by the round bottoms of the exposed bottles.
The best thing about the plastic bottle houses is that they are well insulated, sturdy and inexpensive. The compact dry soil filled in the bottle makes the houses almost 20 times stronger than brick constructions, making it resistant even to earthquakes. The sand also insulates the houses from the scorching heat by maintaining a low room temperature, ideal for the hot Nigerian climate. Also, the construction of plastic bottle houses cost one third less than house built by bricks and concrete. Another special feature the house boasts is that it is bullet proof. People from most part of the world will find this amusing, but for the violence stricken Northern Nigeria, it can be a blessing in disguise.
The bottles are collected from hotels, restaurants, embassies and homes and then used for the construction. There is some criticism regarding the use of discarded plastic bottles, which are used by many people for storage purpose and by street vendors to sell products like peanuts. Also, it is said that the use of sand in bottles shall increase its demand and consequently the price.
Nevertheless, the project is a huge success and has got more pros than cons. Apart from the eco-conservation; this project also aims to uplift the street children from the life of poverty. Instead of begging, the children fill the bottles with soil and get paid for it. There are also plans to make houses completely energy autonomous, i.e. fuel efficient cooking stoves, water purification tanks, urine filtration fertilization systems, etc. Other countries should get inspiration from this African country and take a step forward towards environment conservation.
