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450 years. That’s how long it takes, on average, for a plastic bottle to biodegrade completely. To put that into perspective, if a young William Shakespeare had enjoyed a modern bottle of coke back in 1569, that bottle would only just be breaking down today.
This highlights two things. Firstly, it’s very easy to overlook what a lunchtime bottle of pop means for the planet. A drink that lasts maybe a couple of hours before being thrown away and forgotten, then lasts nearly half a millennia more.
In that time, it travels the world, ends up on beaches, and harms wildlife. It’s worth considering the environmental cost when purchasing these sorts of plastic goods.
Secondly, it goes to show just how durable and resilient plastics can be, and this is what the Global Ecobricks Alliance is building their vision on.
In the UK alone, we produce approximately 5 million tons of plastic waste a year. How could that plastic waste be rerouted away from landfill and oceans, and back into pragmatic and environmentally respectful use?
Global Ecobricks Alliance is a non-profit organization looking to repurpose the masses of plastic waste in a process they call ‘sequestration’. This term means to “isolate and exclude for security and protections” and in the context of Ecobricks, means putting plastic on a safe pathway, and helping to speed up ‘plastic transition’.
Plastic Sequestration
So what exactly does ‘Ecobricking’ entail? Quite simply, an Ecobrick is a plastic bottle tightly packed with clean and dry plastic waste. Once full, a good 600ml Ecobrick will weigh at least 200g and will be free of air pockets.
Its important that an Ecobrick meet this minimum requirements of weight and density, as they reduce the fire risk and ensure the bricks are solid and safe for construction, and have better longevity.
Once the specifications are met, the bottle can be capped and logged, with the weight, date and purpose, and used in construction of projects such as structures, benches, flowerbeds and tables, to name a few.
By using the Ecobricks to build new and resilient structures, plastic waste is sequestered and given a new purpose that keeps it from floating redundantly into the ecosphere and endangering wildlife.
Plastic Transition
It’s no secret that we all need to make concerted efforts to reduce our carbon footprints, and make more environmentally responsible choices. Conventional recycling isn’t always enough, and Ecobricking aims to reinvent the ways in which we recycle and repurpose our waste.
Global Ecobrick Alliance stresses the importance of the ‘Plastic Transition Ratio’, which is the ratio of plastic waste generated to Ecobricks produced. This begins with measuring our plastic production and consumption, and identifying the problem before making the necessary changes to how we deal with it.
For companies, this means engaging in and striving for environmentally mindful practices.
Transparency at the corporate level is a key initiative for Global Ecobricks Alliance, and they are working with a range of companies to help solve issues in environmental practice through honest identification of plastic wastage. If the problem is identified, it’s much easier to solve.
CMT Group are supporting the Global Ecobricks Alliance by maintaining transparency about plastic usage and striving for better environmental practices. Along
side their active efforts to improve on this front, they are also supporting Global Ecobrick Alliance with in house learning, helping the cause to navigate building regulations, and create and encourage Ecobrick projects.
It marks a concerted effort to pursue more environmentally mindful practice that starts within the company, by addressing practices at home, and then extends to supporting the movement and helping it to achieve its full potential.
The Ecobrick movement is people powered. It relies on the actions of the community to push its message, and to begin the process of redirecting plastic to a safer and more constructive pathway.
It’s also important to acknowledge the fact that the Ecobrick movement is not built on capital. It’s not built on producing profit, nor does it require additional spending to start. We all purchase goods that produce plastic waste, in the modern world it is simply unrealistic to think this can be avoided.
Ecobricks are the stop breaker that can help halt our plastic waste’s journey to places it simply should not be. Ethical environmental practice needn’t put anyone out of pocket, and Global Ecobrick Alliance is paving the way to more thoughtful management of our plastic waste, and helping create beautiful things in the process.
