The material hanging over rural Ecuadorians' homes, for example, is typically built from either grasses -- which attract insects, leak horribly and collapse when water-logged -- or corrugated tin -- which, in a country that averages 86 degrees, transforms homes into ovens.
Fortunately, one far-too-common material is coming to the rescue for the people of Ecuador, creating green jobs and reducing waste along the way: plastic bottles.
Carnegie Mellon's Engineers Without Borders has teamed up with eco-nonprofit Reuse Everything Institute to turn material that once was used to hold drinks into housing material for poverty-stricken communities. According to a video promoting the partnership, 110 million tons of plastic is used each year -- 7.86 trillion plastic bottles, give or take -- and the discarded material can be transformed into a product that dramatically improves everyday life for Ecuadorians.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/16/recycled-plastic-bottles-roofs_n_5499883.html
