Half full or empty? - by John

As you may have picked up from previous blog posts, I am a big fan of seeing waste as a resource and focusing on opportunities rather than problems. With that approach I thought we should try out an idea in K1 in lieu of the bad floods which enter some of the houses at least once a year.

There is a lot on the internet about an interesting technology for building houses and water tanks through using plastic bottles as bricks. To make them strong like bricks, sand and soil are rammed into the bottles, which are stacked to make walls. Simple eh?

I thought we could try something out on a different scale by making use of the large bottles that are used by hotels and Muzungus (white folk) over here. They also find their way into the slums, but by that time you have to pay for them, although they are only about 12p a pop.

So, a few of us got together and set to work outside one mama's house, who gets filthy water flowing into it, to try this idea out. We also had help from the self-appointed 'Chairman', Obama, a fun chap who was trying to convince us that he fought in the First World War. He is old, but surely not? Mind you, he is also a witch doctor so you never know.

Here's how we got on.

We placed the bottles facing into the ground to hopefully prevent them from getting washed away (they are also very heavy!). Other, smaller bottles and stones were placed below and in the gaps between the large bottles.

A soil bank was piled up behind the bottles to help hold them in place as people walk across, compacting them over time. Obama is having a break here.. well, he is apparently over 100 years old ;)

Ta dah! The finished job looked good, but we will see how it fairs in the floods. We will be going into the community each week to see how it's doing. And to check if Obama has his letter from the Queen yet too.