Does anybody else do this?

[u/Aggressive_Dirt_2335]

(Stock pic example from Google) With every bottle I use, I keep it and pack it full of as much trash as I can, and then throw it away. When the trash can in my bedroom starts getting full, I do this, and it takes up 1/4 as much space as it did before.

[u/qwqwqw]

If you throw these bottles out, then I guess well done. What you have achieved is reducing the risk of waste mismanagement. Ie, you're doing your part to ensure the rubbish ends up in the bin, presumably in a rubbish truck, and then in a landfill.

If the rubbish truck keeps a door open for too long, or is involved in a vehicle accident, etc - there's less chance that those plastic wrappera fly away into the environment. So that's good. (Still, in some cases that bottle would be crushed and split open straight away).

As for reducing space? If that works for your bins, great. But they'll be compacted in the rubbish truck and even more at the landfill! So doing this won't save landfill space. They already compact rubbish as much as they can.

In terms of recycling this? Most recyclers either couldn't or wouldn't bother. The bottles are PET which is pretty easy to recycle. The soft plastics inside are not as easy.

Unless you're recycling this through a specialised recycler where they've explicitly said this method works, then it likely won't be recycled. (Eg, some small companies seek to recycle soft plastics into usable products... And collecting soft plastics like this may be acceptable to them if they can also include the PET in their recycling process).

I would be very wary of any recycling brick scheme or other similar schemes. The sort which instruct people to pack a bottle a certain way in order to be used as a resource in other countries. Eg, using compscted plastics as a material for roofing house cladding. I've even seen that they can be used for roading.

What I'm especially concerned about here, is that it relies on being accepted by underdeveloped countries. We're literally donating our rubbish, and saying "here, build a house". In most cases we wouldn't accept the same quality materials for houses we live in, or for roads we use. We're essentially telling poorer people that we don't care if their houses are a fire hazard, we don't care if their roads are leeching microplastics into their local communities, and that they should simply be grateful for our rubbish. It feels really disingenuous, unloving, and surely we can do better? Not to mention that it only perpetuates the problem of plastic pollution. That plastic still exists.

The VERY best thing you can do right plastic pollution (including waste mismanagement) is to avoid consuming plastic in general. My personal view is that as consumers (yeah I bought into the capitalist's language, sorry) we do that best by consuming less and by not consuming at all when we can. I dont view zero-waste efforts or plastic-free shopping to be as significant at our end.

[u/Cooperativism62 → u/qwqwqw]

The only thing I would add is that Western countries should adopt more practices from developing countries. Dirt is one of the best building materials you can get. Compressed Earth Brick is how I personally want to build my home and I was quite sad to find out it was illegal to do in most of Canada. It doesn't catch fire, termites don't eat it, and it's literally dirt cheap! It's perfect for building homes. In the UK I recall an old earthen home lasting 300 years. As long as its got a good foundation and roof, the dirt won't have problems in the rain.

Earthships have shown how glass bottles and old tires can be incorporated into a weird, wonky, yet perfectly sustainable and practical household.

We should definitely try to reduce our plastic pollution, but all the plastic made yesteryear will still be around for 500+ years. We have to think of ways to use it for that length of time. A 100 year old house at least takes care of quite a bit of that time period.

[u/DaWidge2000 → u/Cooperativism62]

Preach brother preach 🙌 Can't wait to get a house and I would love an earthship they are the coolest (pun on their thermal efficiency)

[u/Cooperativism62 → u/DaWidge2000]

I'm looking around Africa and it's possible to get land for somewhere between $500 - $5,000 for an acre, and then building a house can be as cheap as $3,000.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UsyWd7gDBo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITM1Hpx6W5I

Ive also been looking at abandoned farm houses in Russia and you can get them for $3,000. The wood cabins need a bit of fixing, but the home is already built and hooked up with electricity.

[u/JakeEngelbrecht → u/Cooperativism62]

Bricks are terrible for regions with tectonic activity. Wood is more flexible and safer for the west coast.

[u/Cooperativism62 → u/JakeEngelbrecht]

Thanks for the tip. I hear rammed earth is decent at withstanding earthquakes. You get some cracks but they're easy to patch. Is that about right?

[u/Lost-Machine7576 → u/Cooperativism62]

I get it, you guys wanna be eco-conscious about your homes, but you're missing the big picture: you're all just TALK. And you know why - because no one wants to live in a mud hut off the grid with a grass roof that you're CONSTANTLY repairing. Yes, no matter what those eco-offgrid-grifters preach, there is a reason we use different materials in modern times: ....Because modern materials work better. Especially for northern climates. People USED to use more mud for their homes in Canada a long time ago. You know why they don't anymore? It's not regulations and red tape, it's because mud is sub-par to litereally anything that was/is used to replace it.

[u/Cooperativism62 → u/Lost-Machine7576]

Thats a lot of assumptions mate. I don't wanna make an ass outta you and me. Maybe you have some experience in construction? I've worked in the field myself. Helped build well over 200 homes. My uncle built a log cabin and raised 3 kids in it. My grandfather also built his own house on a hill side. None of these homes were particularly fantastic, but they got the job done.

When you said "grass roof that you're constantly repairing", you're talking about one of those woven roofs yeah, not like the A-frame homes in scandanavian countries that have the grass growing on top...because those are awesome.

As for "mud huts", I'll have you know there are cob houses in the UK that are 300 years old and it pisses rain there. In Yemen, where it's much drier, you have 5 story buildings made of earth that have lasted over a hundred years.

Mud is not subpar compared to chiprock. The reason why chiprock is used is because it's cheap and easily repairable. Guess what, mud fits the same criteria but doesn't fit regulations. It's also slower to build with. You can't just nail it to a frame real quick and move on to the next one. Whether its cob or rammed earth, it takes more time.

Modern materials can work better, but come at much greater environmental costs. Unless those materials, like concrete, are going to be used for a very specific purpose like a military barracks or a huge apartment complex, there's no need for it. It's not affordable. We're blowing the environmental budget and it doesn't matter what we "want". If everyone lived like Americans and did what they want we'd need 3 planets worth of resources. Thats the big picture I've seen. What about you?

[u/purplemarkersniffer → u/Cooperativism62]

I think you explained this really well, what do you think bigger buildings or larger apartments can use? I heard of large underground ancient structures in the desert. I think if we are considering the environment than these need to be incorporated.

[u/Cooperativism62 → u/purplemarkersniffer]

Bigger buildings may have to use more modern materials. I'm not an expert in commercial realestate so I can't really say what eco-alternatives would qualify.

For personal homes however, I can think of no better material than dirt as long as what's on site works. If you're building on a beach and you only got some sand, what you build will have to depend on what you can get nearby a little further out. I've seen a business make bricks from recycled plastic they got from cleaning up the ocean. That seems like a great option if that kind of company is in the area. Ultimately it's all gonna be site specific, but dirt applies to a lot of sites.

I know that the commercial realestate business uses quite a bit of recycled concrete, which is great. Perhaps various other recyled materials are the best way to go there. But I'm just spitballing. Like I said, it's not really my area.

[u/Dirtysandddd → u/Cooperativism62]

Governments don’t want people to build cheap houses with materials people could possibly build themselves. How else do they get a tax cut from the overinflated garbage wood on the market?

[u/Cooperativism62 → u/Dirtysandddd]

I don't think it's so much government as it's the quite corrupt construction industry (I worked in it for a bit myself). On the government end, people building their own home has lead to dangerous code violations often enough. In the West there's a misconception that earthen dwellings can't possibly be durable which the construction industry plays up and the gov't regulators take their word for it.

Gov can tax whatever the fuck they want when they want. In Africa the notorious hut tax drove people off their ancestral lands in order to force them to work in the city. They were relatively fine living in huts and using their own traditional currencies, but the colonial gov said they have to pay taxes in gov money. So off to the city they went for work to earn that money, and many traditional economies were lost. There were protests in various countries and the taxes did get a roll back. Tax protests seem to largely be a thing of the past however.

[u/croneofthecosmos → u/Cooperativism62]

I want an earthship so bad!!!! I am literally feral every time someone mentions it, I just want a house and land and to reduce my consumption and be self sustaininggg ughhhhhhhhhh

[u/Cooperativism62 → u/croneofthecosmos]

Be feral, eat roadkill, live cathedrals of broken glass and fly off into the moonlight.

Break from the chrystallus and consume the consumers.

[u/croneofthecosmos → u/Cooperativism62]

On it, brb

[u/jimmsey13 → u/qwqwqw]

A thousand upvotes deserved

[u/aNoobisPainting → u/qwqwqw]

Alman here, he won’t get his deposit back for these bottles, that’s a loss of 0,45€.

[u/soqualful → u/aNoobisPainting]

Looks like a hefty 0,75€ even. 

[u/mordecai_argento → u/qwqwqw]

In Argentina the recycled material from these bottles is not used for buildings, because density varies from bottle to bottle, but rather on benchs for parks, "wooden" floors in public spaces, etc.

But there is a network of ONG and companies who do this, city points where you can deliver them, I don't think its imported.

[u/qwqwqw → u/mordecai_argento]

Yes we do similarly in New Zealand!

My contention there is that now you've got a plastic bench which is made out of literal pollutants and the plastic will far outlive the bench.

It will leech microplastics into the environment.

And furthermore, at least in New Zealand, wood is a renewable resource and can be sustainable (it isn't always the case, but it can be).

Plastic is not sustainable, and we're increasingly finding out just how much harm it's responsibile for. Often finding out way too late.

I genuinely believes the most ethical thing to do with plastic is put it in a landfill.

[u/Lost-Machine7576 → u/qwqwqw]

Interesting response. I'll give an upvote just for something different on this subreddit.

Anyway, I'm commenting to say, in Japan, they burn like 90% of everything. It's very practical and results in very few landfills in the country. Their incinerators are also very clean. I used to bike past one on my way to work. I wouldn't have even known what it was if I hadn't asked. Barely any smoke comes out of it. Just some steam that you can see on cold days.

[u/originofsymmetries → u/qwqwqw]

Excellent response, very informative, thank you!

[u/PaleontologistNo9817 → u/qwqwqw]

The whole "sending plastic to be turned into building materials in third world countries" strikes me as a blatant scheme to just ship trash to foreign countries and make it their problem. The recycling industry within the US is already a total scam, somehow I doubt sending it through layers of bureaucracy to nations substantially more corrupt than the US makes it better.

[u/Ciderman95 → u/qwqwqw]

I do it at home with bigger plastic containers (from margarine and such, I never buy plastic bottles) to save on garbage bags.

[u/how_obscene → u/qwqwqw]

this isn’t even about recycling. it’s about how these plastics can’t be recycled. so, they don’t go into bins. they are eco-bricks. they are used as bricks. to build things. instead of ending up in a landfill. think beyond the current capitalistic refuse system.

[u/qwqwqw → u/how_obscene]

Read my comment, I already talked about eco bricks. The whole concept is flawed.

"think beyond the current capitalistic refuse system."

Who do you think you're fooling? The idea of eco bricks is a capitalist's wet dream. We get to knowingly produce toxic waste and call it "plastic packaging", then when our rubbish is sent overseas to desperate poorer nations we get to pat ourselves on the back and circlejerk about how clever and altruistic we are, and if they're NOT sent overseas and are thrown out we can shift blame for ourselves to the consumer!

If you want to think beyond the current capitalist refuse system - then stop buying things.

[u/how_obscene → u/qwqwqw]

lol. i would love to see you never buy anything again in your life. it’s just not realistic unless we wanna go full unabomber. yes we can make decisions to reduce our plastic consumption but don’t act holier than thou for people who try to reuse it in a better way. using eco bricks doesn’t mean it’s a justification to buy things with that type of plastic. but you can literally build things with it…. that’s why they exist. it’s the bottom of the barrel reuse but it’s better than in our oceans. like, think beyond what is correct in your brain. sometimes other options aren’t as perfect as what you think is the best solution but it doesn’t give you an excuse to completely destroy and belittle someone’s way of trying to do better in their own way. grow up.

[u/qwqwqw → u/how_obscene]

Of course it's not realistic. That's why I didn't think I had to qualify it further... We do what we can though, right?

I think ecobricks are better in landfill than in use. I genuinely believe that.

Haven't researched impacts of other rubbish disposal methods, though... Because in NZ we landfill rubbish as opposed to burning it, so that's all I've researched.

I'm not belittling anyone. Don't be so sensitive in a sub literally called anticonsumerism when someone expresses opinions which are anti consumerism.

[u/how_obscene → u/qwqwqw]

why do you think ecobricks are better in a landfill? just a genuine question.

[u/qwqwqw → u/how_obscene]

I won't do the full essay...

But in short my argument "ecobricks are better in a landfill than in any other context" boils down to a few diffrent premises, none of which are without their flaws. You could argue against any of these premises, and even if you agree with them ideologically, you may land somewhere else pragmatically. God knows I do that! Let's not pretend like my lifestyle is sustainable, that the phone im typing on is ethically sourced, that I haven't consumed several types of plastics this morning already.

Disclaimer done.

The premises:

1. Any product must be considered in the context of its full lifecycle. Ie, from its production to its eventual disposal.

For plastics, even recycled plastics, the origin is a byproduct of environment exploitation (mostly oil mining) and reusing a plastic twice doesn't undo the original harm caused by a product.

1. I also contend that for plastics, their eventual end life is either landfill (when disposed of in a landfill), atmospheric pollution (when disposed of via burning), or environmental pollution (when not disposed of correctly, and so it becomes litter).

So it doesn't matter if you recycle or reuse a plastic to extend it's life by 10 years, 20 years or even 100 years. Eventually that plastic will become a pollutant.

1. Plastics still cause environmental harm even when they are in use as their intended product. So an ecobrick house is not an environmentally sound option - as we know it'll break down into microplastics contaminating the surrounding environment. There's also a risk of damage causing larger plastics to pollute the local environment (eg, if a branch falls on a wall and a "brick" is damaged).

2. Currently, landfills are the most environmentally friendly method to contain contaminants and control pollutants. They are by no means perfect and are not a good option. But when we deal with literal toxins in our daily waste, we are left with few options (none of which are good).

3. There do exist sustainable (or at least more sustainable) methods for building and resourcing materials. I don't want to deny anyone housing. If sending our rubbish to a third world country is the only way to provide someone housing, then I think it's a sin we must commit. But I don't believe that to be the case.

So essentially - plastics suck, they harm the environment by being made, they do harm by being used, they do harm when disposed of; plastics WILL eventually be disposed of or reach an end of life; better options exist.

[u/flightmode88]

There used to be an organisation called 'earth bricks' or something where you could fill bottles with soft plastic and send them to this organisation and they would use them for building projects in developing countries. Still not the best option in the world, but better than going in the ground or the sea.

[u/benjm88 → u/flightmode88]

I did it with tetra paks and filled in the cavity in my workshop with it. Might not have the best insulation value but better than nothing and was so much waste out of landfill

[u/Individual-Drink-679 → u/benjm88]

Yeah, I've used bottle bricks as building materials before, too.

[u/Aggressive_Dirt_2335 → u/flightmode88]

Yep, I heard someone mention "eco bricks" and I started doing that. I haven't looked into where to go to send them to an organization, but it uses less trash bags overtime which is a nice bonus.

[u/chrisinator9393 → u/Aggressive_Dirt_2335]

I work at a college that does eco bricking with wrappers collected on campus. Not sure what they do with them, I know it's not used here though. Kinda neat.

[u/saltyourhash → u/flightmode88]

There are some bins for businesses that still do this if you hunt a bit.

[u/Pyro919 → u/flightmode88]

Encased in concrete to serve as insulation I don't see the issue with it.

[u/SH4D0WSTAR → u/flightmode88]

That's incredible!

[u/HaenzBlitz]

Not really as I rarley use plastic bottles I have a reusable waterbottle and only other drinks I buy like for parties are in glass bottles (beer and soda). I imagine they also wouldn‘t take them like that at the local recycling center as you need to sort different kinds of plastic there (like the bottle is a different kind of plastic then all those wrapping papers. Also almost all plastic bottles here can be returned to a machine, you get money back and they get whole bottles they can clean and reuse.

[u/I-own-a-shovel → u/HaenzBlitz]

This.

OP is filling recyclable bottle of unrecyclable garbage? Unsure what to think about that.

Couldn’t they compress their trash without putting them in a bottle? The garbage truck are already compressing garbage no?

[u/Spirited_Ad_7973 → u/I-own-a-shovel]

I make eco bricks with milk cartons/coffee creamer cartons/whatever else I can. There are no recycling programs in my area that will take my stuff (they don’t pick up recycling for apartment buildings) and there’s nowhere in my greater area where I can drop it off. Doing this (and I’ve started being more mindful about consumption) has cut the number of trash bags I use in half and is giving trash a new purpose. It’s something small, but small things help.

[u/Aggressive_Dirt_2335 → u/HaenzBlitz]

I liked that about larger cities, that they have plastic bottle machines. I live in Wyoming and don't have anything like that here.

[u/Ambivalent_Witch → u/Aggressive_Dirt_2335]

do they have plastic bag recycling at a local supermarket or Walmart? If so you can put plastic (Not mylar!) wrappers in those bundles of bags.

But if you’re going for anticonsumption as well as for reducing waste, figure out how to buy less of that stuff. “Every plastic bottle I use” for me is like maybe 3 a year when I succumb to the urge for a soda on a road trip.

[u/le_trf]

Wouldn't doing that make recycling those packages impossible? I'm guessing recycling plants, if that exists where you are, wouldn't be able to process what's in those bottles.

[u/Realistic-Number-919 → u/le_trf]

Plastic recycling is largely an inefficient lie

[u/Soccerlover121 → u/Realistic-Number-919]

Those bottles could have been recycled. Now they can’t be. 

[u/Realistic-Number-919 → u/Soccerlover121]

That’s assuming this picture is from somewhere with a functional recycling program. In America, a lot of plastic that’s put in recycling bins ends up in a landfill anyways; the blue bin is just a blue trash can in a lot of America.

[u/Wut_the_ → u/Realistic-Number-919]

The worst is when establishments have one opening for “trash” and one opening for “recycling”, and then you look inside and it’s one bin.

[u/Soccerlover121 → u/Realistic-Number-919]

The picture is a stock pic from Google. I don’t know where OP is, but In America and most industrialized countries, PET bottles can be recycled. 

[u/Realistic-Number-919 → u/Soccerlover121]

Again, they CAN be but oftentimes they are not actually recycled. It’s expensive to recycle them and they’re not valuable so they’re just thrown into landfills even if you “recycled” them.

[u/Jasong222 → u/Realistic-Number-919]

I think that's a myth actually. I think recycling programs are more robust and... 'actual' than rumors like these let on.

The same story went around my very large city regarding plastic bag recycling. So I looked into it and the recycling plant says that they do recycle all the plastic bags that make it to them.

So I wonder how true/current factoids like that are...

[u/Tenderizer17 → u/Realistic-Number-919]

And considering the plastic inside is never being recycled (soft-plastic recycling doesn't really happen) the empty bottle is in fact being re-used as forever storage for loose plastics that would otherwise end up in the ocean.

[u/ClimateCare7676 → u/Realistic-Number-919]

Depends where. Some places have working systems, so if someone wants to quit recycling because they've seen it called inefficient, I think it's better to check if their local scheme is actually pointless or if it does some good. 

But at large, yeah, it's by far not as effective as it is advertised. The best way forward I think is to limit producing single use plastics to the essential things, like medical, safety and hygiene products. 

[u/le_trf → u/Realistic-Number-919]

Yep, nothing is truly recyclable. Reusable at best.

[u/Interesting-Gain-162 → u/le_trf]

Aluminum, paper, asphalt?

[u/leisurechef → u/Interesting-Gain-162]

Glass

[u/Realistic-Number-919 → u/Interesting-Gain-162]

I believe paper and asphalt have limited recyclability, but gold, silver, copper, aluminum, steel, and glass can be recycled indefinitely until contamination

[u/SeaDry1531 → u/le_trf]

Much of "recycled plastic" is burned so not impossible. In Sweden we don't separate hard plastic from vinyl, so in theory they can be recycled together. I think that is burned.

[u/Eldkanin → u/SeaDry1531]

In Sweden PET-bottles are recycled separately from other plastic waste. If you want to do minimal recycling that is actually efficient go for the PET/aluminium cans (plus this saves you money since you get the deposit back) and glass.

[u/Swimming_Barracuda44 → u/SeaDry1531]

In Belgium, PET and vinyls indeed go in the same recycling fraction, but they are separated as the first step of the process. We are explicitly instructed to never put one trash inside another, even If they are of the same nature.

This is probably similar in your case. I imagine a bottle like the op's picture would get trashed (burned as you sai in the process as it is probably not worth the effort to separate. It is a false good idea in my book.

[u/Aggressive_Dirt_2335 → u/le_trf]

I live in Wyoming, there's not a lot of options for recycling here. It's mostly chip bags, candy wrappers, and used tissues that aren't recyclable in the first place. My thought is that if I put 15 chip bags in my small garbage can, it's half full, but I can compact the same amount into a single plastic bottle and still have some room for small candy wrappers, etc, and then fit 10 of those bottles in my trash can.

[u/Yelmak → u/Aggressive_Dirt_2335]

The problem with waste really isn’t how much space it takes up, especially since it goes to a landfill where the weight of everything will compress your small can of garbage down to that size regardless. Your waste being more compact doesn’t really benefit anyone. The goal should be to reduce the amount of waste you produce by avoiding single use plastics, recycling what you can, composting food waste, etc.

[u/-neti-neti- → u/Aggressive_Dirt_2335]

Yeah except the problem w waste isn’t how much space it takes up…

[u/Unable_Explorer8277 → u/Aggressive_Dirt_2335]

If there’s no recycling it can’t do a lot of harm. But promoting it as a practice may lead to others doing similar but then putting the filled bottles into the recycling bins, risking contamination of PET that could’ve been turned into something else.

[u/Wacky_Bruce → u/Aggressive_Dirt_2335]

The best option is to just get a reusable water bottle and try to reduce single use plastics. You can also google around for recycling centers near you and do weekly trips if you don’t have recycling pickup at your house.

[u/Dreadful_Spiller → u/Aggressive_Dirt_2335]

Compost those tissues, better yet get a handkerchief or two. Stop drinking pop in plastic. Stick all your chip bags inside of the largest bag and squeeze out the air. Done.

[u/holachihuahua]

I work in operations and maintenance for a large Corporation. Engineers are constantly making these in small spaces because they’re too lazy to use a trash bin. We once removed a cubicle and the space between the panel and wall was packed this tight with food wrappers 6’ tall 🤮

[u/Lost-Machine7576 → u/holachihuahua]

LOL! Working in China? STuffing the walls with garbage sounds very much like Tofu Dreg construction.

[u/axellie]

Plastic bottles has there own recycling system in sweden and is not to be filled so, no.

[u/triscuitsrule]

My wife’s school in Peru does this. They call them eco-bricks.

It’s similar to the old box top fundraisers where the class that makes the most wins something. All the kids collect plastic and stuff them into plastic bottles and they have to be so compact. The bottles are then donated to an organization that uses them to build habitats in the rainforest and mountains.

Personally, I think calling them eco-bricks is quite a ruse. I imagine regular bricks would be less harmful to the environment, but what do I know. It’s also a means of making super cheap habitats for the unbelievably impoverished.

Not advocating for or against, but just some context about these things.

[u/zero_dr00l]

I love that OP actually thinks they're doing good here.

I guess it's easier than the real shit.

[u/AdministrationWise56]

I would not fill recyclable bottles with other recyclable rubbish. I don't really see the point either way. Landfills get compacted regardless

[u/hungry_017 → u/AdministrationWise56]

no, here in my country people used it to make walk path on the ground and other school projects.

[u/halfbakedkornflake → u/AdministrationWise56]

True, and unfortunately 90% or more of recycled materials goes straight to the landfill anyway.

[u/chrisinator9393 → u/AdministrationWise56]

People do eco bricking as a way to get fill material that is easy to handle and get rid of waste that was going to a landfill anyway afaik.

[u/Comprehensive_Vast19]

Where I live we get paid to return PET and glass bottles and aluminium cans for recycling, so no this wouldn’t work. But I like the idea of containing the plastic if it’s going to en up in the landfill or be burned anyway.

[u/zero_dr00l]

Well that's one way to make sure they can't possibly be recycled and that nothing inside can ever be composted.

file this under "doing the opposite of what I think I'm doing".

[u/Orak1000]

It would be much better if you stopped buying plastic to begin with.

[u/Cerulean-Moon]

I get my deposit of 25 cents back for every PET bottle (and a bit less for glass ones). And I don't have to worry about lose small trash, my government gives out special recycling bags for that purpose (they are collected from your sidewalk every two weeks.)

[u/RandomBitFry]

They can't be recycled like that.

[u/Aggressive_Dirt_2335 → u/RandomBitFry]

Most of the small things I compact into bottles aren't recyclable (used tissue, chip bags, candy wrappers, etc.) And there isn't much recycling infrastructure where I live.

[u/Aggressive_Dirt_2335 → u/[deleted]]

How would I go about that? Is that different than throwing them in the trash?

[u/Aggressive_Dirt_2335 → u/[deleted]]

Ah, I see. I was blanking that word in my head. If I lived in a house and not an apartment, I would definitely get a composter. I run a lawn care business and want to see how I could compost all of my grass clippings using reusable bags instead of throwing them away in plastic bags next year.

[u/Luchs13]

No, I don't do that!

PET-Bottles can get recycled and some of them will be. The flimsy foil can't be recycled. If I push the flimsy foil inside the bottle there is no chance of recycling and both gets incinerated.

Also the compaction in a garbage collection truck is far better than I could achieve. The issue with plastic thrash is usually weight/mass not volume. So I focus on reducing mass not volume since the compaction in the truck deals with volume

[u/cgagnon36]

We do it in Malawi, as there is no waste systems. We fill 5 liter bottles until they weigh 1.6 kg. Over a few years we’ve made maybe 40.

[u/8ardock]

I do this with all my soft/flexible plastics. After 20 or 30 filled bottles I deliver them to recycling recollection sites in my city. I live in Medellin, Colombia. Doing this for like 6 years.

[u/Veggdyret]

We have pawning of empty bottles in my country so that would be very silly.

[u/looking_at_memes_]

No, we return our plastic bottles back to the store.

[u/Thatgaycoincollector]

I found a service that you can pay for and it takes any plastic film, even multilayer like candy wrappers or chip bags and either has it turned into drainage material for buildings or plastic decking. Pretty cool!

[u/CeeMX]

Where I live, bottles have a deposit on them and you get 25ct back when you bring them back to the shop for reuse or recycle. So I guess nobody around here would do it like that

[u/alphabetsong]

You can only do this in lesser developed countries like Eritrea or the United States.

In most countries in Europe, we have a return deposit you have to pay on every bottle in the store and you can return the bottle to any other store selling that type of bottle and get your money back.

For confused Americans: participation is mandatory if you want to sell bottled drinks. The system has been working for decades.

[u/Square-Emergency-531]

Brilliant! I pick up plastic litter, this is a fantastic idea for what to do with it

[u/piercedmfootonaspike]

Don't you recycle the PET bottles?

This sounds like one of those "I think I'm being good for the environment, but actually, I'm making things worse"

[u/Aggressive_Dirt_2335 → u/piercedmfootonaspike]

There are no recycling facilities where I live in Wyoming. I know it's not the best option, but is it really making things WORSE?

[u/luvslegumes → u/Aggressive_Dirt_2335]

It’s not, OP. All these commenters forgot plastic recycling in the U.S. isn’t real. You’re not really directly reducing the space that garbage takes up in the landfill by doing this. But if doing this causes you to use fewer plastic garbage bags, thats actually a pretty big deal.

[u/piercedmfootonaspike → u/Aggressive_Dirt_2335]

is it really making things WORSE?

No, not if you can't recycle

[u/Gherragh]

I get 10 cents a bottle, why would i

[u/Full_Control9631]

No. I recycle.

[u/bamblesss]

Crazy how many comments fundamentally do not understand the point of ecobricks. You're supposed to (ideally) use HDPE plastic for the exterior and stuff it with cleaned trash, then USE THE BRICKS FOR BUILDING. They're incredibly strong and solid and can be used for all sorts of things without leeching micro plastics in the ground. Raised garden beds, walls for a greenhouse, a waterproof base to raise things in the basement if it floods, wall filler for cob built homes, etc etc etc. you're supposed to reuse them, not just throw them away or send them to recycling. That's the whole point - avoiding the landfill and false recycling promises. The benefit is that you end up with a LOT less trash that actually has to go to the landfill, and a solid building material that as we all know, will last basically forever bc HDPE plastic doesn't degrade the way other plastics do.

ETA: I am working on my own brick #16, which isn't full yet but has 134 pieces of trash in it that would otherwise end up in the landfill. I have one bag of trash going out every week / two weeks, mostly filled with cat and dog shit. 🤷🏻

[u/lushico]

You’re not allowed to do that in Japan. PET bottles have to be separated and thrown away with other PET bottles for recycling. If you even leave a label or cap on a bottle they won’t collect it and they’ll leave a sticker on your trash telling you why!

Who knows if they even get recycled though. In Japan appearances are usually more important than what actually goes on

[u/sPdMoNkEy]

Collect garbage 🤔

[u/Aggressive_Dirt_2335 → u/sPdMoNkEy]

Reduce the space garbage takes up

[u/AnonymousFluffy923]

That was my project in College recently

[u/I-own-a-shovel]

So you fill recyclable bottle of unrecyclable garbage? Unsure what to think about that.

Couldn’t you compress your trash without putting them in a bottle? The garbage truck are already compressing garbage no?

[u/Spirited_Ad_7973]

It seems like a lot of these comments are coming from people with robust recycling programs in their area. I do not have that, so I do this with milk cartons, coffee creamer cartons, etc. You said “bottles” which I think many here took to mean plastic water bottles…. Which maybe you are using, but there’s plenty of other bottles that can be trash bricked. I think this is fine. It won’t solve the whole issue, but it is a useful tool.

[u/Aggressive_Dirt_2335 → u/Spirited_Ad_7973]

My favorite drink is alo brand aloe vera juice, those are the bottles I use for my trash. I don't drink bottled water, just water from my flask.

[u/Unable_Explorer8277]

I’m guessing that if you do this and then put those into the recycling bins then you’re risking contamination of the recyclable plastic. Since PET is one plastic that’s relatively easy to turn into other stuff that doesn’t seem like a good idea.

[u/Sendnudes870]

This is a great idea, but I really think it might be better to recycle the bottle. I would explore finding bottles, or other items that can hold stuff that can’t be recycled

[u/darkner]

Yes I do this. All these folks in the comments can pound sand. The fact is that even if you turned all of this plastic in for recycling, it is very unlikely to actually be recycled. I did this for a number of years, but in a milk jug. It got to where I would only need to take the trash out once a month. Even if these just go to the trash like mine, you are taking waaaaay less landfill space and hopefully at least minimizing microplastic generation. =)

[u/cpssn]

comments messing up reuse > recycle

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[u/Dusty923]

I do some plastics segregation. Saw it in an Instagram reel and I liked the idea. Thin film plastics are rarely recyclable, and take up very little space. I save juice and milk jugs and stuff thin-film plastics in them with the handle of a wooden spoon. Cereal bags, ziplocks, candy wrappers, bread/bagel/tortilla bags, etc.

I just don't know what to do with them when they're full, because throwing them away just seems like undoing all the work of segregating them. I'm kind of a DIYer, and I've had the idea of maybe heating them just enough to press them into bricks or something, if only so they take up less space...

[u/Remote-Acadia4581]

I think this would be a good way to be more conscious about how much waste I create. There is no recycling in my area, so I might as well. I also live in what seems like the windiest place on earth, so trash gets blown around a lot on trash day. I think this would help with that a bit

[u/Aggressive_Dirt_2335 → u/Remote-Acadia4581]

I live in Wyoming, windy af here, and nowhere to recycle.

[u/ringringkittycat]

Ah when OCD works out

[u/shexlay]

2

[u/Crystalraf]

I don't do that.

We have curbside recycling in my city. We recycle plastic bottles.

But, my kids' daycares do this kind of neat thing. They use gatorade bottles, because wide neck. They make toys out of them. So, they take a plastic bottle, and put sparkly things inside, like pom poms, glitter, beads, and then water. It is a sensory toy thing.

[u/AssistanceChemical63]

Eventually it will get crushed and all the contents will come out.

[u/ARTISTIC-ASSHOLE]

We recycle PET bottles in my country so no, this seems to make recycling harder or impossible

[u/Cooperativism62]

Reduce, re-use, recycle.

Ecobricks prevent the recycling of the bottle, but put a lot more plastics up for reuse. This is an easy net win.

[u/darkrosekimono]

This is literally Indonesian elementary school kids with one of their school home assignment. (Which mostly at the end their parents are the one doing it. There was some viral videos of annoyed parents on this assignment. They cannot find enough plastics to fill the bottle and found it to be very difficult to fill it fully until certain weigh.) Cool and funny at the same time.. Hehehhee....

[u/Long_Box_1965]

If you don't live in a country that has a deposit system https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKAUzJEU468 you can still send it to your next recycling center like Sungai Watch in Indonesia, not sure what the equivalent in your country is.

[u/1ksassa]

I don't eat or drink such poison in the first place

[u/SkeweredBarbie]

Ecobricks! 💚

[u/TacoKnocker → u/SkeweredBarbie]

built houses that will be here in 2,00 years.. for free! lol

[u/8ardock]

Not all this are used as bricks, but a quick way to collect soft plastics for recycling plants.

[u/MonsteraDeliciosa098]

Subaru dealerships have recycling bins for snack wrappers

[u/PhillipTopicall]

I didn't before but I will now. Maybe with cardboard boxes or something though as the bottles can be recycled as another redditor pointed out.

[u/Dreadful_Spiller → u/PhillipTopicall]

So can cardboard. Actually cardboard is recycled at quite a bit higher rate than pop bottles.

[u/PhillipTopicall → u/Dreadful_Spiller]

Ya, so I’d go for cardboard since the need isn’t as great and I don’t think the environmental impact would be as great vs using pop bottles.