Remember the story of the three little pigs? The first little pig built his house out of straw, the second little pig built his house out of sticks and the third little pig built his house out of bricks. Only the third little pig’s house was able to withstand the big bad wolf that huffed and puffed and blew down the houses of the first two little pigs.
Well, this is a story about a house built of more than 600,000 plastic bottles and by all accounts, it can withstand way more than an angry wolf. It has been tested against winds stronger than a Category 5 hurricane.
The house, built by JD Composites, was unveiled this week in Meteghan River on Nova Scotia’s southwest shore. The walls are made of 15-centimetre thick plastic slabs that were made by mulching the bottles, turning the mulch into pellets that were then melted in huge vats and formed into custom moulds.
As well as standing up to hurricane force winds, the builders say the plastic walls provide insulation that help the home maintain inside temperatures more than twice as effectively as conventionally built homes.
This is no little pig’s house; it’s a 2,000 square foot, luxury beachfront home with three bedrooms and two bathrooms and a rooftop deck with expansive views.
The Annapolis Spectator has an in-depth story and photos of this ultimate recycling project.
Recycling is great but reducing is better
Keeping 600,000 water bottles out the environment is no small accomplishment but it is only a drop in the ocean – so to speak.
In Ontario alone, an estimated 1 billion water bottles do not get recycled and end up in the environment.
And think about this – a recent study out of the University of Victoria on human consumption of microplastics found that if a person takes water in through plastic water bottles they would be consuming an additional 90,000 microplastic particles annually. A person who only drinks from the tap would consume an additional 4,000 particles annually.
Get your water from a tap
So use a refillable water bottle and get your water from a tap. It’s cheaper, healthier and better for the environment.
