The trash problem presents a growing mound of an issue. Some statistics say the world produces 10 billion pounds of garbage every day. Turning trash into cash, several entrepreneurs have found new use for discarded waste. This week, we bring you five creative waste recycling enterprises.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Social Enterprise of the Day – BUVAD
Uganda; Non-Profit
The ubiquitous plastic water bottle is wasteful, but supplies clean water. What if its life supporting sanitation were to continue after it had been drunk dry? With BUVAD’s Bio-Tech venture, it does exactly that. Discarded water bottles, which can choke local landfills, were used to build a large toilet facility for a local school. After the successful project with Bwetyaaba Primary School, they hope to spread the technology so other communities in Uganda’s Kayunga district can use it in construction. The bottles are stuffed with earth, and then used in place of traditional bricks. The benefits of the bottle-bricks are numerous: they build cooler structures, are better at withstanding earthquakes, are quick and easy to make, and avoid the gouging and burning practices used to make traditional mud bricks. Instead of ending up in a landfill, the bottles are now fulfilling a crucial community need.
