Alternative Winter Breaks Explore New Topics
By James Irwin
The first thing you notice about the eco-bricks is the color. Plastic bottles of assorted tints, each crammed with recycled material—potato chip bags, pieces of plastic—sit atop a layer of cement in a neat row, arranged together like a soft-drink variety pack on a conveyor belt.
Then comes a second layer of concrete, applied over the bottles. Another row of plastic, another layer of concrete. Gravel, rocks, dirt and sand are packed into the crevices between the bottles. Eventually the bricks take shape, becoming benches, trash cans, even interior or exterior walls of buildings.
It is a rudimentary engineering project, and at the same time it’s a cost-effective and environmentally friendly way to build, said Emma Vitaliano, a graduate student in the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration and co-leader of a George Washington University Winter Alternative Breakstrip to Los Santos, Costa Rica.
Read the full article, Sustainable Engineering: One Eco-Brick at a Time, at GW Today.