How to build a sustainable home with 15,456 plastic bottles

In the little town of Santa Cruz de la Sierra in Bolivia, empty plastic bottles lying on the streets are being collected and used as house bricks. Ingrid Vaca Diez is a hands-on Bolivian woman who reuses plastic and glass bottles to build sustainable and affordable homes. Her enthusiasm and creativity already changed the reality of life of many families.

Although for us it's impossible to figure out how could Ingrid – a lawyer – come up with a ground breaking eco-housing solution. For her, it was obvious. She created recycled-affordable bricks by filling empty bottles with a variety of materials, eg, cement, mud, animal feces, sugar mixed with straw and sand. Simply put. And once Ingrid realized that her method was feasible, she decided to target this housing alternative to large families living in extreme poverty. The very first house became reality in 2007; it's a 120m2 building made of 15,456 plastic bottles.

After succeeding in her first two eco-housing attempts, Ingrid's method brought kindred souls together, and nowadays they are almost done with the third house; with many more to come.

In short, Ingrid's eco-housing method not only builds homes to those in true need but also turns human waste into a resource. In other words, Ingrid's straightforward innovation confirms that affordability and sustainability can live under the same roof.