You are in Guest mode. If you want to post, you'll need to register (we promise it's painless).
Registered users should log in now. (Forgot your password?)

This forum allows unregistered guests access to read. You must register to post in this forum.

Nature_and_Environment.13
Ecological Design	Topic Home Topics Forum Home Forums Home Search Settings Help Exit

{Nature_and_Environment.13.1}: James River Martin {rivertree} Sat, 13 Mar 2004 13:35:13 CST (14 lines)

I hope this topic will be useful for many things, and in many ways.

I'll have much to contribute over time, but initially, ... I need
help! I'm looking for these bottle-bricks I saw in some book or
magazine some few years back. I don't recall where I saw them, but do
remember thinking it was an excellent design-for-reuse concept.

They are molded of thicker glass than normal bottles, are flat-sided,
usually colored--and would otherwise be thrown away after one use, or
cruched and melted for recycling. As a "waste product" after a single
use, they make extraordinary bricks.

Have you seen them? Is there a web-page, somewhere? I cannot find a
link.

{Nature_and_Environment.13.2}: {jonathan68} Sat, 13 Mar 2004 13:39:47 CST (2 lines)
{name removed by kai Tue, 14 Sep 2004 10:28:10 CDT}

You could try asking in Photography; I'm sure I've seen a picture
there which was followed by discussion and a link to a website.

{Nature_and_Environment.13.3}: James River Martin {rivertree} Sat, 13 Mar 2004 13:47:03 CST (1 line)

Thanks Jonathan!

{Nature_and_Environment.13.4}: James River Martin {rivertree} Sat, 13 Mar 2004 13:50:42 CST (2 lines)

So, what other great eco-friendly products and ideas are floating
around out there?

{Nature_and_Environment.13.5}: {jonathan68} Sat, 13 Mar 2004 14:30:14 CST (1 line)
{name removed by kai Tue, 14 Sep 2004 10:28:10 CDT}

{Photography.16.126} is what I was trying to remember

{Nature_and_Environment.13.6}: {jonathan68} Sat, 13 Mar 2004 14:42:30 CST (1 line)
{name removed by kai Tue, 14 Sep 2004 10:28:10 CDT}

Or rather - {Photography.16.126-142}

{Nature_and_Environment.13.7}: Rich Mason {richpix} Sat, 13 Mar 2004 14:55:44 CST (10 lines)

James, saw the post in Photography, and found this link:
http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/recyclematerials.htm

Not specific to "bottle bricks," but there is some discussion there
of using glass bottles as part of construction.

What I believe was in the Photography discussion was a reference to
glass blocks, which may or may not be of reused/recycled content.
They can be found at almost any building supply store, and are
relatively costly.

{Nature_and_Environment.13.8}: James River Martin {rivertree} Sat, 13 Mar 2004 14:58:48 CST (6 lines)

Thanks, guys.

The "bottle-bricks" I had in mind were actual bottles used for
various liquids folks use at home. When empty, they can be collected
for building purposes -- and they work well due to their extra
thickness and shape. They are flat-sided.

{Nature_and_Environment.13.9}: Karen Iwamoto {kai28} Fri, 26 Mar 2004 19:44:06 CST (13 lines)

I'm not sure if this is where this belongs... but has anyone put bat
houses in their yard? I'd like to get some bats around- I live in one
of those 1990s subdivisions where natural habitat is non-existant, and
there is really nothing but houses anywhere near here. However, we do
have a huge mosquito problem (I got bit today- first of the season)-
but I will not spray for them (well, I will use cedarcide, but I'm not
so sure that actually works). So I'm thinking... bats. There is a city
park nearby (10 miles or so away) that has these bat houses on poles
in a cleared area, so I'm wondering if I could put one in my yard in a
little used corner. Does anyone have any experience with this at all?
Is this a really BAD idea? Have I over looked something? I'm just
starting my research now, but at the moment, I'm wondering why I
didn't think of this LAST year.

{Nature_and_Environment.13.10}: Rich Mason {richpix} Fri, 26 Mar 2004 20:01:55 CST (2 lines)

I have no personal experience with bat houses, Karen, but found this
a most helpful link: http://www.batcon.org/bhra/bhcriter.html

{Nature_and_Environment.13.11}: Karen Iwamoto {kai28} Fri, 26 Mar 2004 21:01:10 CST (1 line)

Thanks for the link.

{Nature_and_Environment.13.12}: Karen Iwamoto {kai28} Fri, 26 Mar 2004 21:04:03 CST (4 lines)

once again, I've found that my thoughts are not so original:
http://www.napa.ufl.edu/2001news/backyardbats.htm

at least I know I'm not nuts- there is safety in numbers :)

{Nature_and_Environment.13.13}: we are killing ourselves {coyote13} Sat, 27 Mar 2004 07:24:47 CST (9 lines)

re glass bottle houses

I seem to remember that the bottles were not 'recycled', but
specifically for the house. I will look in me old books, I'm sure
I've got a picture somewhere. The inf, as I recall comes from
Habracken's research centre in Eindhoven. 'Stichen Architecten
Research' where I was on a course.

Wonen wit carten, (walls of cardboard) was the thing back then.

{Nature_and_Environment.13.14}: Suzanne Griffith {sggriffith} Sat, 27 Mar 2004 12:08:06 CST (1 line)

There was a house in Seattle made out of concrete and pop bottles.

{Nature_and_Environment.13.15}: we are killing ourselves {coyote13} Fri, 02 Apr 2004 20:03:51 CST (6 lines)

that's the man

v inspirational


http://www.habraken.com/john/default.htm

{Nature_and_Environment.13.16}: Karen Iwamoto {kai28} Thu, 13 Jan 2005 08:03:53 CST (28 lines)

so we are re-doing our kitchen, and trying to do it as greenly as
possible (see my post in {Home.15.523} ) - and we are thinking about
using richlite countertops. eco-friendly, or so it seems. does use
some resins. they even have a counter made of hemp, but the color wont
work in the kitchen (petty, i know- but we're going to have to sell in
6 years, too- because then, finally, finally, finally we can move to
washington state, and get THE house. the final house. enough with
moving.).

so here's my dilema: richlite counters (made of wood pulp- look & act
similar to corian) seem to be very environmentally friendly. but they
are made in Tacoma, WA (note the irony here- thats where my husband is
FROM, and generally where we are trying to eventually GET to), and we
live in massachusetts. thats, what 4000 miles or so of transport?
trucks and trains and pollution.  Another option is stone: granite,
slate, etc. all available in Vermont I think- maybe 200 miles away-
but even if its 400 miles away... thats a lot less transport. but then
again, thats kind of like raping the earth.

which is less evil? man made ecofriendly shipped across the country,
or not so ecofriendly (eco-stealing), but non-chemically, shipped from
the neighboring state (and states are small here)?

and we'll need very little counter top. our kitchen has about 6 linear
feet total of counter space. maybe 7.

or, you know... there is concrete. but i'm afraid of that and resale
value issues. for such a small kitchen, its gotta look GOOD.

{Nature_and_Environment.13.17}: {redmaple} Thu, 13 Jan 2005 15:24:39 CST (4 lines)

Personally, I would choose the natural stone such as the slate.

If it's wood pulp, then it will have some type of nasty biocide in it
to stop fungi from colonizing the fibres.

{Nature_and_Environment.13.18}: Karen Iwamoto {kai28} Thu, 13 Jan 2005 18:33:01 CST (1 line)

hmmmm.... good point...

{Nature_and_Environment.13.19}: Ecovillage {bshmr} Fri, 17 Jun 2005 00:59:04 CDT (15 lines)

[ From webwatch-admin@utne.com (Utne Web Watch) weekly newsletter.
Good starter article. ]

http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=1259

Appalachian Ecovillage
By Christopher Gutsche and Kathleen Smith, YES! Magazine

At Berea College, students don't just learn about sustainability, they
live it. The Berea Ecovillage campus housing was built to reuse waste
and rainwater, and encourage recycling, composting, and community
interaction among students and their families. While not having a
dishwasher or dryer is a radical adjustment for some, the values of
conservation and protecting the air and land are right at home in
Appalachian country. -- Grace Hanson

{Nature_and_Environment.13.20}: Craig Cuthbert {match22} Sat, 30 Jul 2005 01:16:11 CDT (1 line)

A good place to Unlearn the Lies <g>

{Nature_and_Environment.13.21}: ... {wren1111} Wed, 17 Aug 2005 20:47:07 CDT (HTML)

{Nature_and_Environment.13.22}: ... {wren1111} Tue, 01 Nov 2005 14:34:19 CST (HTML)

{Nature_and_Environment.13.23}: Glen Marks {wotan} Thu, 10 Sep 2020 00:24:28 CDT (3 lines)

- The highest function of ecology is understanding consequences.

Pardot Kynes ("Dune" by Frank Herbert)

This forum allows unregistered guests access to read. You must register to post in this forum.