Top 7 Genius Plastic Bottle Remodels

From S. Kim on September 24th, 2009 in Green Remodeling

You thought your 2-liter volcano science project back in 5th grade was pretty cool, huh? Well, imagine winning that blue ribbon for building the world’s first sustainable eco-house using only recycled plastic bottles. Now that’s what we call genius. Check out our top 7 bottle builders below. Included are the unique, the informative, the do-it-yourselfers and the efficient. Sit back, pop the top and enjoy the read.

#1 – We know about spaceships but what in the world is an Earthship? I’ll give you a hint: it comes in lots of shades of plastic. Earthships are constructed from mud and recycled materials like tires, bottles and cans. These structures embody green practices and are powered by renewable energy (wind, water and solar power). They also process their own waste and surprisingly enough, keep occupants cool and comfortable with even room temperatures. The photo above shows an especially decorative Earthship in Argentina. I love how those bottles catch the sunlight and glow.

#2- Check out this three-tier beer bottle chandelier. On sale now at Tabby, Inc., you can order this piece of Texas for $599, bottles not included. But if you pay the additional shipping, they’ll send you 41 bottles free of charge… and most likely empty. Yee-haw!

#3 – Wine bottles are making their way onto the green scene. Simply heat a 12-inch bottle in a kiln at 1,425 degrees to make this serving dish. Or check online to order one since you probably don’t own a kiln. The pressed and folded bottle makes a stylish tray for cheeses and fruits. Serve alongside a full bottle of wine that has yet to be recycled.

#4 – These Thai Buddhist monks collected an estimated 1.5 million green Heineken and brown Chang beer bottles to build the “Temple of a Million Bottles.” The temple is located in a Sisaket province near the Cambodian border. The monks are recycling, not drinking, so it’s OK.

#5 – Here’s a recycled bottle screen at Earthship Fife, the UK’s first fully autonomous, self-sustaining building. A natural sewage treatment area, this rainbow of bottles looks too ornamental to be part of waste management. But maybe, just maybe, it smells as pleasant as it looks. The facility in Scotland has other similar buildings from recycled bottles, including a greenhouse and tire shelter wall.

#6 – …99 bottles of beer, take one down, pass it around and – there’s 66 bottles of beer on this Chinese farmer’s roof. Add some hose and a sunny day and you’ve got yourself a solar water heater. The sun warms the water as it flows through the bottles. At least three people can shower as long as no one gets carried away singing.

#7 – And last but not least, take a look at this recycled bottle dome roof in Wales. It’s one of the many recycle efforts by the Centre for Alternative Technology, a very cool organization that holds courses on sustainable living and creates interactive displays to teach visitors about energy generation and transport.