This woman has built 300 homes with recycled materials for people in financial difficulty
It is not impossible to combine civic engagement with keeping an eye on environmental issues while demonstrating solidarity towards those who need economic aid the most.
In fact, Ingrid Vaca Diez, a Bolivian lawyer who has made over 300 homes exclusively with recycled materials for people who are economically disadvantaged, can most definitely confirm this!
Consequently, the project, that is already very successful, has been named the "Casas de Botellas" (Bottle Houses) and respects the environment using only eco-friendly and non-polluting building materials.
via BBC Mundo
Ingrid says that the first recycled plastic bottle house was built in 2000. The first recycled house measured only 1830 sq ft (170 sq m) and was built with about 36,000 recycled 2-quart (2-liter) plastic bottles.
To build a "recycled" bottle house takes only 20 days, thanks to the volunteers who make up the Casas de Botellas construction team.
By the way, the volunteers do not just come from Bolivia! In fact, people from the neighboring countries in South America, such as Argentina, Panama, Mexico, Uruguay, and Brazil have all come to give them a helping hand.
To build recycled houses for the needy, not only plastic bottles but also glass, sand, cement, plastic objects, trash, organic waste, etc., are all used - to fill the plastic bottles - that are then utilized to construct homes that are very respectful of the environment.
Plastic takes about 150 years to degrade and is one of the most polluting materials on our planet and finding ways to use this material constructively is currently a priority.
Therefore, initiatives and projects like Ingrid's are very much welcomed as these provide a way to extend a helping hand to those who are more disadvantaged than us while fighting pollution intelligently to make the Earth a better place to live.
Congratulations Ingrid!
