Plastic bottle house promotes environment protection

A woman in Long Bien District, Hanoi has used thousands of recycled plastic bottles to build a small house and raise people’s awareness about environmental protection.

The house was constructed in June 2015 with 8,800 bottles at Tue Vien Organic Farm.

Nguyen Thanh Phuong, who has the idea of using bottles to build a house, said, “It only takes three to five minutes to drink a bottle of water but it takes thousands of years for a bottle to decompose. We have to change our perception and think that each bottle is a resource that we can use.”

After a meeting with architect Vu Duc Duy, who also wanted to build a house out of recycled materials, the project came true.

The bottle house covers only 10 square metres and its cost is no cheaper than other regular houses as it still needs foundations, pillars and construction materials such as cement.

Phuong and volunteers took two weeks to collect 10,000 plastic bottles. The bottles were arranged in accordance with the colours of their caps to decorate the house.

She filled the bottle with sand and soil and at some parts, filled them with water to let the light in. Those bottles with water are like the house’s windows as well as the decoration. Other real windows and the door of the house are made from bamboo.

Phuong then painted the bottle bottoms with a bit of colour and make them look like flowers on the walls. The house is surrounded by trees.

It is currently being used as a public library for pupils who participate in the extracurricular activities at the farm.

House made from recycled bottles