Nigerians Are Building Fireproof, Bulletproof, And Eco-Friendly Homes With Plastic Bottles And Mud By Editorial_Staff -Nov 23, 2015
AFRICANGLOBE – These colorful homes are bulletproof, fireproof, and can withstand earthquakes. They also maintain a comfortable temperature, produce zero carbon emissions, and are powered by solar and methane gas from recycled waste. Plastic is everywhere. In fact, the environment is so riddled with it, researchers predict that 99% of all birds on this planet will have plastic in their gut by the year 2050.
It is not enough to persuade people to use less, plastic needs to be repurposed and reused to be kept out of landfills. Despite informative infographics, emotional statistics, and recycling programs, many nations – especially the United States – continue to toss plastics into landfills without much care.
This unfortunate reality has spurred many to get creative with the discarded byproducts of society. Some have used plastic waste to construct marvelous sculptures and raise awareness about the issue, while others are re-purposing it entirely to construct eco-friendly homes.
As phys.org reports, the housing crisis has become so bad in Nigeria, nearly 16 million units are required to address the shortage. Because crafting traditional homes would be far too expensive for most, locals adopted the idea put forth by two NGOs and are now building plastic bottle homes.
The solution not only cuts costs for building a house, it is beneficial for the environment.
Founded by Kaduna-based NGO Development Association for Renewable Energies (DARE), with help from London-based NGO Africa Community Trust, the project is solving two problems at once by addressing the homelessness issue and helping the environment. Not only will there be less plastic in landfills, the house is designed to produce zero carbon emissions.
In addition, it is completely powered by solar panels and methane gas from recycled human and animal waste.
To create a two-bedroom bottle house, workers fill plastic bottles with sand and then hold them together using mud and cement. This forms a solid wall that is stronger than cinder blocks.
That’s not all: These colorful homes are bulletproof, fireproof and can withstand earthquakes. They can also hold a comfortable temperature year round.
The buildings can be built to three stories, but no higher, due to the weight of the sand-filled bottles. And, of course, the magnificent diversity of recycled bottles give each house a unique and bright look.
A two-bedroom house requires 14,000 bottles to complete. To put this into perspective, Nigeria throws away three million bottles every day. Clearly, there are plenty of bottles which can be repurposed to build every individual in their own abode.
At least Nigeria isn’t as wasteful as the United States, which discards 130 million bottles per day. That’s 47 billion bottles every year – nearly 80% of which end up in the landfill.
If the United States were to save these bottles and re purpose them into houses like folks in Nigeria are doing, 9,257 houses could be built per day. That is nearly 3.4 million houses a year, reports Off Grid World. With 3.5 million people living on the streets in the U.S., is this the solution needed to remedy the homelessness crisis?
I know the jpop fanbase is small on here but the silence on the assault on a Japanese idol by 2 men is so worrying. Hating idol culture doesn’t mean you should ignore serious issues like this. If we don’t get this more attention Japanese media will literally ignore it because the group’s management is already making this girl apologize for HERSELF being assaulted in front of the men who assaulted HER. It’s disgusting and it shouldn’t go unnoticed.
On Sunday night at the 2019 Golden Globes, Sandra Oh nabbed the much-coveted award for Best Actress in a TV Drama thanks to her stellar performance on BBC’s Killing Eve. It was a major achievement not only for the actor but for Asian representation; she’s the first Asian woman in almost 40 years to win the category. Not only was Sandra’s victory enough to bring many people watching at home to tears, but her acceptance speech in which she thanked her Korean immigrant parents and spoke Korean will now be remembered as a heartwarming moment in Golden Globes history.
“There are two people here tonight that I’m so grateful they’re here with me. I’d like to thank my mother and my father,” said Sandra. “Umma and appa, saranghaeyo.” Which translates from Korean into English as “mom and dad, love you.”
With just a few words in Korean, Sandra honored her parents in a way that’s rarely been seen before and put her own culture in the spotlight. When English is the default at an award show like the Golden Globes, breaking that mold is something to pay close attention to. Considering Hollywood’s ongoing inclusion issues, speaking Korean is both a subtle and candid way to bring light to that lack of diversity. Saying mom and dad in a different language on such a huge platform is a political act, reminding people that there’s still plenty of work to be done when it comes to better representation in the industry. And for those that speak Korean at home with their own families, they were able to see a part of themselves in Sandra’s thank you speech.
Naomi Ellis and her her husband Seth spent Friday morning — the morning after the sixth night of Hanukkah — trying to explain to their three young sons why someone had vandalized the menorah the family had put out on their yard by twisting the metal pieces into the shape of a swastika.
The Ellis family had only built the 7-foot-tall menorah on the front lawn of their home in Chandler, Arizona, because their sons, ages 5, 7 and 9, had asked their parents if the family could decorate their home like the neighbors did for Christmas, the Washington Postreported. Read more.
The Ellis family had only built the 7-foot-tall menorah… because their sons, ages 5, 7 and 9, had asked their parents if the family could decorate their home like the neighbors did for Christmas.
This is America in the 21st century. Please reblog, even if you’re not Jewish. Especially if you’re not Jewish. Spread awareness and let your Jewish followers know that we’re not alone.
