Repurposing waste this Plastic Free July taken to another level by this nursery school
We are celebrating all things recyclable this Plastic Free July and encouraging you to do the same...
Plastic has fast become that one thing that is both poisonous for the environment and for our animal life. It's not great for us either, but many choose to use it because of the price and the convenience it brings with it.
There are many initiatives that are trying to control the use of plastic and encourage a greener way of living by becoming more plastic free. In the month of July, we take heed of being plastic free.
"Plastic Free July is a global movement that helps millions of people be part of the solution to plastic pollution – so we can have cleaner streets, oceans, and beautiful communities," the Plastic Free July website states.
Many times we see initiatives that encourage repurposing plastic in both useful and innovative ways. We came across a woman who decided to use non-recyclable bottles to build a classroom for a nursery school on the West Rand.
"Alison Griffiths, a doctor and former lecturer of physiology at Wits University, became involved with the Eco brick initiative three years ago," MSN reports.
Griffiths wanted to start off by building a bench with Eco bricks, which have been in use in South Africa since 2012, but have been around for about two decades. After completing her bench project, she managed to make 15 benches for a school nearby and one for her garden.
She then decided that that wasn't the end when it came to the use of Eco bricks. She decided that since she was collecting more than what she was using, she needed to take on something big.
I was collecting more than I was building. And so, I was like, we need to build something big.
After meeting a builder, Griffiths decided to use her Eco bricks to build two classrooms at a nursery school on the West Rand that was in need of some new classrooms. They used 6,000 Eco bricks and 3,000 tonnes of recyclable plastic to construct the two classrooms.
"The Department of Environmental Affairs estimated in its latest and final draft of the 2018 State of Waste Report that in 2017 South Africa generated 2.2 million tonnes of plastic, 43.7% of which was recycled and 56.3% of which was landfilled," MSN added.
Bearing that in mind, some plastics cannot be recycled due to its condition. Some plastics are contaminated by food or waste and end up sitting in landfills for years. So this same plastic can be placed inside PET (old soft drink bottles) bottles to make Eco bricks and used for causes such as these.
Take on a challenge to be plastic free for this month, find out more here. Your small change or changes can make a huge difference.
Image Courtesy of Twitter