Sustainability trends are often simple, easy to follow practices aimed at reducing our personal contribution to environmental degradation. But just like most trends, they are susceptible to becoming forgotten as something better, more promising, comes along. Eco bricks can be viewed as one such trend, a relatively easy practice we can engage in individually to seemingly reuse plastics condemned to an eternity of pollution. This fad has circulated social media as a method by which we can all get involved in environmental protection, but does it work? Here’s what you need to know.

What is an Eco Brick?

An eco brick is a plastic container, whether that be an empty bottle of laundry detergent or a jug of milk, tightly packed with small, thinner pieces of plastic, like snack wrappers. It’s 100% composed of plastic, from its exterior container to each individual piece held inside. Making an eco brick is simple as it requires material that you undoubtedly already have on hand, empties and scraps. Once finished with the product inside any large, plastic container, use the now empty jug or bottle as a vessel for all the scraps of single-use plastic trash you’ve acquired. Plastic beverage rings, mesh produce bags, candy wrappers, all of it can be stuffed inside the confines of a larger plastic container. The trick is to use something long and solid, a stick-like object, to pack each individual piece of plastic inside the container, only sealing the container off when the lid is only just able to secure itself. Now all of the shreds and scraps of plastic are contained in a larger plastic throwaway, making it one dense, bound up block of plastic, inside and out. 

What next? 

What can you do with a densely packed plastic container stuffed with plastic? Leave it to sit on your kitchen counter? This is where the sustainable DIY trend begins to unravel. As the name suggests, eco bricks were thought primarily to be used as building materials for construction projects using repurposed plastic, but unfortunately this style of craftsmanship isn’t necessarily in high demand. While there are cases where eco bricks have been used for the exterior walls of homes and buildings, see an excellent example from 2018 here:

They are far from common practice. Eco bricks as construction tools are primarily used in areas facing severe socioeconomic pressures and/or recovering from detrimental natural disasters. The Pituq Foundation is a non-profit organization based in Indonesia that uses eco bricks to construct homes and schools destroyed by earthquakes.

While yes, these examples are inspiring and motivating, getting your eco brick overseas is unlikely. Little information exists regarding the location of potential eco brick drop off centers, suggesting that these locations are community organized and are likely not being sent across the globe. More likely, community drop off points or online postings exist to collect eco bricks for local projects. There are several examples of projects available for inspiration online, like planters made from water-bottle sized eco bricks or functional furniture pieces. While these aren’t entire structures able to enclose a room full of people and things inside its walls, it’s giving single-use trash a second chance. 

Why make an Eco Brick?

Eco bricks may not be the sustainable solution of the future or the climate restoration tool we had hoped, but they can still be used for good. One of the most notable benefits of creating your own eco brick is the practical elimination of small, thin plastics that are easy to scatter and have the tendency to pollute highways, waterways, beaches, forests, you name it. Instead of these scraps of plastic existing on their lonesome, they can be tightly contained in one, larger, now heavier, plastic container, eliminating the risk that they end up somewhere they aren’t supposed to be. Making an eco brick can also help you keep track of just how much single-use plastic you’re consuming. You can measure your plastic use by the number of eco bricks you fill up or the amount of time it takes to seal a container off. Seeing all your waste piled up in one place can be eye-opening, maybe even alarming, and this can inspire an individual change, like living a life free of overconsumption. Maybe you can even set a goal for yourself; use less plastic, consume less, and your progress could be measured in eco bricks made. Physically picking through and packing the trash we use into containers is a great way to increase our mindfulness around our plastic consumption, something we can all be more aware of. 

While eco bricks are not the solution to all of our climate woes or the answer to the pollution crisis, they certainly don’t hurt. If for anything, it is a great practice for becoming more eco-conscious and mindful of the waste we create. Eco bricks can be an empowering step in the right direction, away from overconsumption. A direction us Zillennials all should be looking towards. 

What do you think about eco bricks? Let us know in the comments!