‘Eco-homes’ made up of waste in Latin America

Mexico City, June 23 (IANS/EFE) Plastic bottles, dead livestock and other wastes are used to build houses for poor as part of a climate conservation campaign in Latin America.

Glass and plastic bottles mixed with honey and sand can be turned into a decent accommodation. Such dwellings are called “ecological houses” because they are made of natural elements that cause no damage to the environment, said Ingrid Vaca Diez, a Bolivian environmentalist.

The project “Casas de Botellas” (Bottle Houses) is being carried out as an initiative to provide shelters to the poorest families in Latin America.

“Casas de Botellas” is a group effort in which people are taught how to construct their own houses and “give themselves and their families a decent place to live”, Ingrid Vaca said.

The bottles are stuck together with bricks, lime and cement, and are held with a kind of webbing to make the construction permanent. Other materials such as rods, tiles, glass, wooden frames and furniture are donated by companies, individuals and institutions.

“Each house represents a dream and wins more than a few smiles, which is my greatest satisfaction,” Vaca Diez said.

–IANS/EFE