Vision

EcoBrick
Guide
Mobilize
Imagination and
Collaboration to
Clean & Green your
Home, School &
Community.

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7/14/2015
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Version 3 .2 EcoBricks.org
 When plastics are littered,
burned or dumped, they poison
the Earth, Air, and Water.
When we save, segregate and
pack plastics into bottles, we
can make building blocks that
can be reused over and over
again. Together we can build
green spaces that enrich our
community and environment.

2
 This Guide is dedicated to our Children
and our Children’s Children...

From Pollution to Solution………………………4

Why Make Ecobricks?……………………………5

Where is Away?…………………………………6

Cradle to Cradle…………………………………7

The Junk Food Connection……………………8

The Power of Visioning………………………9

Making Ecobricks………………………………10

Ecobrick your Lesson…………………………11

Ecobrick Evaluation……………………………12

Ecobrick Class Log……………………………14

We are Part of the Story……………………15

What to do with Ecobricks?…………………16

Ecobrick Furniture……………………………17

Sample Ecobrick Designs………………………18

Credits…………………………………………19

...and to All the Children of All the Species for All Time.

3
 From Pollution
To Solution

Vision Ecobricks (VEB’s) are an exciting

way that we can take action today to stop
pollution and to start envisioning a
healthier way of living with our environ-
ment. Ecobricks give us a place to segre-
gate and put plastics. Visioning let’s us
imagine how beautiful our community will
be— the first step in shifting from old patterns to a
new reality. After all, unimaginative and short-
Be the Hero!  Lead by  sighted thinking is the root cause of pollution.
example and  be the 
change you want to see 
in the world.   
Then, with our imaginations and our bricks we can build our vi-
sions! Ecobricks allow inexpensive collaborations with students,
There are many great
documentary films free parents and staff to make beautiful green spaces: play parks, gar-
to download on the situa-
tion on our Planet for
dens and food forests.
schools.
This guide has been crafted to help you incorporate VEBs into
 Bag It: Documentary
on the perils of the your class and school curricula. It is based on two years of re-
plastic bag search, experimentation and hands on work with remote schools
 The Story of Stuff:
Traces the journey of in the Northern Philippines. Since the Guide’s release to all 270
product to poison. Mt. Province Schools, there has been a widespread adoption of
 Home: Documentary
on the state of planet Ecobricking as a community powered solution. Ecobricking is
Earth now a family habit in countless households. Burning and dump-
 Trashed: Documen-
tary on effects of the ing and litter have been drastically reduced. Ecobrick green
global waste problem spaces are being built and planned in every school.

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 Why Make Ecobricks?

Plastics are made from petro-chemicals. These chemicals don’t

fit back into the ecologies around us. Scientific studies show
that these chemicals are toxic to humans— we know this
when we smell plastics burning. Eventually, plastics that
are littered, burned or dumped degrade into these poison-
ous chemicals.

Over time, these chemicals leach into the land, water and
air, and are absorbed by plants and animals. Eventually
they reach us, causing diseases of all kinds: birth defects,
hormonal imbalances, and even cancer. Even engineered
dump sites are not a solution. Whether it is ten years, or one
hundred, these chemicals will eventually seep into the bio-
sphere, affecting our farms & families.
Plastics don't biodegrade, 
they photodegrade.  This 
Nor do traditional recycling facilities solve plastics. Industrial recy- means that plastics left for 
cling simply isn't perfect-- plastics are inevitably lost or down- years in fields or water will 
slowly break into smaller 
cycled. Even the highest quality plastic is eventually cycled down and small pieces. Eventu‐
into a product or material that is no longer recyclable. There is no ally these pieces are so 
small that they are ab‐
way around it: This means that eventually ALL plastic ends up back
sorbed by the plants, fishes 
in nature.. and animals that we eat. 

Save the Plastics! Plastics need to be either eliminated, or put in the right place.
Save plastics from a toxic destiny. PET bottles will last for 300-500 years if they are kept
from sunlight. When packed tightly, they make an amazing brick that can be used over and
over for building. They also become time capsules— a gift to future generations. What will
they think when they see yours?
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 Where is
‘Away’ Anyway?

Where do the things that we throw ‘away’ go?

Where is ‘away’? There is no getting around it.
’Away’ is always someplace in nature. All too often
our wastes are washed into streams, rivers and
oceans.

Scientists are starting to realize just how much plas-

tic and other non-biodegradables are now in the
ocean. The rest of us are realizing this when we visit
the beach. Many disconcerting studies are showing
the dire effect on marine animals and ecologies.

Scientists are also discovering the dire effects on the human

body of the chemicals that compose plastic . Chemicals like
Biphenyl A and Phalates are now banned in certain products
in America and Europe. However, these chemicals continue
to be widely used in the Philippines, Indonesia and other
Asian countries. Even very small amounts of these chemicals
have adverse effects on humans— from causing allergies,
hormonal imbalances, to cancer and acute poisoning. The
young are most susceptible.

Plastic is all around us. When we throw things ‘away’ with-

Did you know, when plastics are  out thinking, we do so at our peril. Asking questions and in-
burned the petrochemicals inside 
vestigating these issues are potentials projects and assign-
them combine to form diox‐
ins?  Dioxins are worse poisons and  ments for students. This awareness is an essential compli-
contaminate both the air through  ment to Ecobrick activities.
fumes and the earth and water 
through ashes. 
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 Cradle
to Cradle
Pollution is caused by short sighted
thinking. Many of the products we
use go from their birth in a factory,
to our hands, to their grave. Pollu-
tion results. With Ecobricks, we can do things differ- Nature works in circles.  
ently. Instead of a straight line of cradle to grave, we can draw That’s why nature 
doesn’t have trash pits 
a circle. We can make sure our Ecobricks go from one cradle or garbage dumps!  
to the next, to the next, to the next... Everything is recycled.  
Humans can learn 
from nature and de‐
Ecobricks are meant to be used over and over again. When sign in circles rather 
you make an Ecobrick, think of its next use– perhaps the par- than lines.  Let’s start 
with our Ecobricks .  
ent who will build a bench for your school (so pack your With a little fore‐
brick full and tight!). When you build with an Ecobrick, think thought our children 
can reuse them rather 
of its next life also– perhaps your grandchild who will have to than have to clean 
move the bench to make their house. Together we can begin them up.   
an indefinite circle— Ecobricks that do break, can be stuffed The making and ship‐
into a new one. Its also important to think of the other mate- ping of cement cre‐
rials you build with. Cement for example can cause many ates 8% of the world’s 
green house gas 
problems.
emissions.  Normal 
cement constructions 
will stand for only 80‐
100 years.  Various 
 Use Cob as the mortar between Ecobricks. Cob will last adobe/cob construc‐
centuries, yet it will still crumble and release the bricks in- tions have stood for 
tact when destroyed. This is almost impossible with ce- thousands of years. 
ment which crumbles hard and sharp— Ecobricks will rup-
ture before they can be extracted.
 Ensure the Ecobrick is not exposed to sunlight. UV rays
photograde PET. The bottom ‘star’ and the surface of the
cap are thick enough to leave exposed for decoration.

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The Junk food
Connection
High sugar, low nutrient foods have been
shown to cause a range of serious diseases. In
America, where there has been a long rise in
the consumption of these ‘junk foods’, there
has been is a corresponding rise in obesity, dia-
betes, tooth decay and more. High sugar foods
have also been observed to impede the ability
of students to concentrate. In Canada and
America junk foods like pop and chips are now
being banned completely in public schools.
Many schools in Mt. Province are now doing
the same.

Junk foods are always packaged in plastics. Junk

foods come from large industrial crops, are pro-
duced in high-energy factories and shipped long Junk foods are the leading
distances. This requires artificial fertilizers, the use cause of residual waste. They
are also the cause of tooth
of pesticides and the burning of large quantities of
decay, kidney failure, hyper-
fossil fuels. glycemia, diabetes, hyper
tension and many other
20 years ago the Igorot people were renown for health issues.
their strength and vitality at ages 80 and above.
Junk foods are now widely consumed. Today, Ig- Careful!
 Often students are asked to complete 
orots are beset by terminal diseases at age 40. This
a  quota of VEBs.  This is a good way 
is a pressing issue to explore with students.
to start.  However, students may feel 
forced to finish their quota and con‐
sume junk food to do so.  Is it worth 
Is there a connection between the pollution of making Ecobricks if students consume 
our bodies and of the planet? more junk food? Why are we making 
Ecobricks? These are valuable ques‐
tions to discuss with students.  

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 The Power
of Visioning
Ecobricking is long, hard work. But this is the
best thing about them— they are valuable and es-
sential moments to reflect, imagine and envision.

Imagine the most beautiful place you have ever

experienced. Now envision this place merging
with your community. Visioning is the powerful “What is your
process of making real a new reality through our vision for the
imagination. Visioning is the first and essential
step in shifting from pollution to solution. environment
When we put a vision in writing for all to see, this new re-
of your
ality becomes clearer and closer. Try it for yourself— let community?”
your imagination loose. Write your vision for your com-
munity on your Ecobricks. As you pack your brick you
Have students answer this question 
will find yourself thinking more and more about your vi- directly on their EcoBrick 
sion! And soon it will be real around you.

Guide students in their visioning through reflection on

environmental issues. The questions on the next page are
a great place to start. Each week they can be challenged
with a new question.

Have students date, sign and tape over their

visions/answers. Ecobricks will last for a long
time. They will become time capsules to be
discovered by our children’s children. This
will encourage students to think long-term
about their responsibility and legacy.

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 Making
Ecobricks
Ecobrick making is simple, but there are important
guidelines. Start right— this is a long-term life-
style habit that you, your student and school are be- What to do with larger non‐
ginning. It is important that students are guided and biodegradable items?  Class B Eco‐
bricks can be made by making a 
graded strictly for their first Ecobricks. Shortly, your
moon cut on the top of the bottle.  
school will be making hundreds of Ecobricks and over If there is no place in your com‐
the next years, thousands— begin the habit with the munity to recycle toxics like bat‐
teries, fluorescent bulbs and elec‐
best technique! See the handy Point Chart (p.12) that
tronics you can pack them into a 
turns Ecobricking and visioning into a gradable and Class B brick.  Discharge batteries 
effective assignment. and pack plastics between them so 
they are not touching. 
 Stuff bottles with non-biodegradables only: all kinds
of plastics, foams, packagings and cellophanes.
 No paper, no glass and no sharp metal
 Use a stick to pack bottles as tightly as possible. Alter-
nate stuffing, packing, stuffing, packing.
 Use a soft colored plastic to fill the bottle’s bottom cor-
ners and any air pockets. This gives the ecobrick its
color.
 Stick with one brand of bottles for your school . Use
what is most plentiful. This will make building easier.
 Big bottles are good for maximizing volume, small for
quick packing.
 Grade Ecobricks using the supplied point chart
 Teachers: Record submitted Ecobricks using attached
log.
 Principals: Gather all logs and tabulate school pro-
gress. Logs will be used for generating provincial statis-
tics.
 Superintendents: Brag about the amazing work of your
schools and students using the tabulated statistics.

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 Ecobrick
Your Lesson
The pollution of the biosphere is relevant to every
subject from Art to Zoology. You can incorporate
Careful!  VEBs into your curricula by devising questions that
Some teachers have ob‐
encourage reflection on the Learning Standards and
served that students 
spend more time on  Competencies for your course. Reflective questions
making their Ecobricks  are a powerful method of ‘deep learning’— where
than their regular home‐ students are challenged to creatively come to their
work.  Combine the two!  
own conclusions to questions that have many layers.
Have students use their 
Ecobricks to write their 
homework  While packing their EcoBrick students will have a
valuable moment to reflect and imagine. To save pa-
per, answers/visions can be written on their EcoBrick.
Sample questions include:

 Where do all the plastics come from?

 Who is responsible for the left-over plastic from the products we buy?
 Where would this plastic go if it weren’t going in the bottle?
 Where would it go after that-- 10 years from now? 100 years from now?
 Who and what is affected by this plastic in the long-term?
 Where will this brick be in 10 years? 100 years?
 What alternatives do we have to using plastic?
 How do plastics fit into the circle of life (the ecology of your community’s envi-
ronment)?
 Why are we making Ecobricks?
 How do my choices affect my environment, and people today and tomorrow?

11
 EcoBrick Grading Chart — Post on Classroom Wall

Reflection of the Week

What is your Vision for the Environment of your Community?

Answer this question on your EcoBrick

Ecobrick Criteria Points Mark

A 1.5 L PET bottle has been used (uncut) 5pts

A smaller PET bottle has been used 2pt

A 1.5 L PET bottle has been used but cut so larger items can be inserted 3pt

The brick weighs at least 1/2kg (+1 bonus for more) 2pts

The plastics inside are dry and clean 1pt

The brick only contains non-biodegradables 1pt

The bottom clearly features a color from the Filipino flag 1pt

There are no dents on bottom or sides of brick. It is capped. 2pts

The student’s answer is written on the brick. Poor or Excellent? 5pts

The student’s name, the day, the month and the year of completion are
1pt
written. All writing is with a permanent marker and taped over.

Bonus points can be awarded for extra work: The plastics are cut to
1-2pts
maximize space, artful packing, layers of colors, etc.

TOTAL 20-25pts

12 Www.Ecobricks.org
 Teacher: ______________________________________

EcoBrick Class Log Date Started: __________ Log Completed : _______

School :________________________________________

Name of Student Name, Bottom Bottle Volume Weight Hardness

Date, Color Brand (mL) (g) 1-5
Vision
Russell Maier ✔ ✔ Coke 330ml 304g 5

Junsay Bakala ✔ ✔ Aqua 1.5L 512g 4

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We are part Student Reflective Homework
Its  an  exciting  time!    We  are  shifting 

of the Story away  from  old  poisonous  habits  to 

ways that are in sync with the circles of 
life.  Where do Ecobricks fit in?  Where 
do  you  fit  in?    Write  a  500  word  essay 

N
or  draw  a  picture  to  illustrate  the  part 
OT SO LONG AGO, IN THE LAND of the story that you like best. 
RIGHT HERE, our Ancestors lived
in harmony with the plants and animals
around them. Their homes, clothes, us. Waste arrived. And it began to pile up.
food and community were like melodies Sickness and disease followed closely behind.
that danced to the songs of Nature’s Cy-
cles. Our Great-great-great- Afraid for the future, our Grandparents
locked the animals and plants in mass cages,
grandparents grew food so healthy that
mono-fields, and… plastic packages. There
they danced century-long and lively life- was more food— but it seemed to make peo-
times. ple sick. And there was even more waste. Our
parent’s were even more concerned for their
children— for us. They worked even harder
Our Great-geat-grandparents had to work to solve the problems. But try as they might,
hard, but it was rewarding work that saw their the trash piled ever higher.
family and community blossom like the flowers
and fruits in their gardens. Nothing was wasted. Almost forgotten, the gentle melodies of our
Everything they used was returned to the ancestors sung back to us across the genera-
Cirlces of Life. tions. And WE could hear it. We realized, we
remembered, that we are part of nature’s
As our Great-Grandparents prospered, they song, just as the flowers, the fields, the trees…
became excited at the new things they could and the ‘trash’. The song included it also—
make, buy and trade. They sought with love to what we had thought was waste was but new
make the lives of their children easier with new notes for our ears. Bottles and plastics and
inventions, substances and stuff. But in their cellophanes weren’t useless— they were mar-
passion, our Grandparent’s forgot how these vellous materials to be segregated, saved and
new things would fit back into the world around sung into new songs never before heard!

Together we began to work with our parents

and grandparents to transform our problems
into solutions. Together, we began to bend
dead-end lines back into circles of use and
reuse. It was a lot of work, and it was even
more fun. Our grey communities began to
return to green, the plants and animals frol-
icked freely and our children were happier
than ever before as they played in the rivers,
fields and forests.

Never before had the planet sung so sweetly,

for once again, this time with deep intention,
our lives were melodies in harmony with the
song and cycles of life.

14
What to do with
the Ecobricks?

Teaching children to grow their own food is the

most valuable skill we can impart to the next gen-
eration. Self-sufficient personal and community
food production (as opposed to mass mono-crops)
is essential for preserving the Earth’s biosphere for Download the Eco‐
future generations. School’s can set the example: brick Construction Manual 
for detailed guidelines on 
Ecobricks easily build great green spaces— gardens, how to build gardens to fur‐
play parks and permaculture food forests. Here, niture with your Ecobricks.  
Free PDF download at 
composting and ecobricking put all your school’s www.Ecobricks.org 
‘wastes’to enriching the school and students.

People get excited when they are empowered. With one

clear green space vision, the entire student body, parents
and teachers can unite. Often the project can be guided
through the Student Government, the YESO or an environ-
mental club.

Ecobrick constructions are fueled by collaboration. Projects

will require hundreds of bricks. Invite and inspire the com-
munity with a bold green vision! The more folks involved,
the faster and merrier.

See www.Ecobricks.org for ideas. Sample Ecobrick coonstructions.  

See more in the Ecobrick Con‐
struction Guide. 

15
 HexBench Modules
Ecobricks should never be left
HexBench modules are the easiest Ecobrick output. Made outside exposed to the sun. UV
rays will gradually photode-
with simple silicone sealant, they are durable, and tremen-
grade the plastic bottle. After
dously practical indoor furniture. Modules can be used in- only two or three years, the
brittle bottle will crack and
dividually as seats or combined like LEGO to create tables, burst, releasing all our hard
beds, benches and more. packed plastic!

Did you know?  A Coke 
bottle left out in the Sa‐
hara desert sun will 
photodegrade into a crumbled 
pile of plastic particcles in only 
one month! 

16
17
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Refuse
No 
Vision Ecobricks aren’t just about protecting our en- thanks 
vironment— they are about creating a world where
the environment doesn’t need protecting! To do so,
we need to add a fourth R to the three R’s.

We live in a pretty crazy time with lots of crazy prod-

ucts and materials. It is only by refusing to buy
Can it be reused or
products that are non-biodegradeable, non-
recycled? Can it be
recycleable and eventually poisonous, that we can
Ecobricked? No?
shift our living into harmony with the circles of life.
Then, let’s do better.
The greatest contribution of Ecobricks is in shifting
perceptions— so that the craziness becomes clear.

A useful class exercise is to present several common every- Make Your Own
The internet is full of the most amazing 
day products to students: perhaps, a shampoo bottle, a plastic step by step instructions to make the 
bag, and a woven basket. Where will these products end up in coolest alternatives to everything from 
a year? In ten years? Is the utility of these products worth furniture, to shampoo— all from local 
materials, trash and organics. 
their environmental cost? Who pays this cost? Can we do
better?
Grow Your Own
A large percentage of one‐time‐use 
We can do better! After two years of unfolding In Mt. plastics come from food packaging.  By 
Province, Philippines, Ecobricking has become a long term growing our own food (in our Ecobrick 
garden) we not only eat healthier, we 
community habit. Dump sites are used less or have com-
don’t need as much plastic. 
pletely shut down! Plastic burning and tossing have been dra-
matically reduced. Politicans can be seen packing Ecobricks
A vast array of products we consider com‐
in their office, segregation is rampant, and some villages have pletely normal today are in fact poisons 
tomorrow.  We might not think so much of 
so little plastic they borrow from their city friends so Ecobrick our purchases today, but there are coming 
parks can be finished. The era of ‘Trash’ is at its end. generations that will shake their head at 
our folly.   

18 18
 The Vision Ecobrick Guide began in the humble villages of the Cordilleras in the Northern
Philippines where it is quite clear that plastic does not fit with the rivers, forests and
fields. The guide was made possible by a small group of basureros— teachers, administra-
tors, principals and artists passionate about keeping our water, earth, air, and bodies
clean and vibrant. We all pack Ecobricks in our homes and we are joyful to see the end to
the burning and dumping of what was once known as ‘trash’.

Principals

Russell Maier is a regenerative Irene Angway is a teacher

designer based in Sabangan, Mt. turned administrator
Province, Philippines. He has turned basurera. She is cur-
been deeply inspired by the rently the Indigenous Peo-
deep sustainability of the Igorot ples Education Coordinator
people while living in their land. of Mt. Prov.

Characters Illustrations
Mr. Ecobrick & Family are de- Joseph Stodgel founded the
signed by intrepid Manila Il- Trash to Treasure festivals
lustrator El Tiburon Grande. in South Africa and directs
He is most passionate about Upcycle Santa Fe. He is pas-
projects that deal with sustain- sionate about building com-
ability and helps communities. munity wealth through the
alchemy of ‘trash’.

Translate for your region! Please share what you make!

Does your community still have trash? We are Inspire the world! Have you made something
happy to help you customize the VEB Guide for awesome with Ecobricks? Whether it’s the
your area and language! Our team can set you smallest bench or the first Ecobrick sail boat,
up with the VEB Guide source files for transla- you can help inspire others to transform their
tion and region contextualization. Contact us at pollution in to solution. Please share it on
vision@Ecobricks.org www.Facebook.com/ecobricks

This booklet was made possible

through people and passion—no governments, NGOs, or
corporations were involved in its design.

19 19
 UNLESS someone
like you, Cares a
whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to
get better. It’s not.

-Dr. Seus

www.Ecobricks.org
This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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