• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Nigerians are building earthquake-proof homes with plastic bottles that are much stronger than bricks

Home> News> World News

Published 20:26 28 Nov 2023 GMT

Nigerians are building earthquake-proof homes with plastic bottles that are much stronger than bricks

The homes are so strong that they can 'withstand bullets'

Niamh Shackleton

Niamh Shackleton

Nigerians are using an innovative way build homes that saves the environment, as well as money.

Plastic bottles are undeniably one of the biggest things to have impacted our environment, with eight million tons of them said to be polluting our oceans each year.

Nigeria alone is said to 2.5 million tons of plastic waste yearly, largely down to the fact that many homes don't have drinkable water.

But there's a eco-friendly way the bottles can be reused for something other than to be drank from - to build homes.

And they create extremely sturdy homes too, with the properties said to be both earthquake and bulletproof.

Advert

There were first reports of the sustainable buildings in 2011, with more being build in the years that have followed.

It's believed around 14,000 bottles are needed to build each home but, despite the thousands of pieces of plastic needed, it still works out to be around 67 percent cheaper compared to using more traditional building materials.

Around 14,000 bottles are used to build the homes.
EYEAFRICA TV/YouTube

When building the home, plastic bottles are filled with sand and then stacked on top of one another and bound together with string.

Advert

Filling them with sand reportedly makes them incredibly strong, with come people claiming that the homes are durable that they can last 300 years.

Yahaya Ahmed of Nigeria’s Development Association for Renewable Energies told the BBC back in 2011: "Compacted sand inside a bottle is nearly 20 times stronger than bricks.

"We are even intending to build a three-storey building."

To fill the gaps and make it a complete wall, builders then use mud.

Advert

And not only is it creating cheaper and sustainable housing while taking thousands of plastic bottles off our streets and out of the ocean, it's creating jobs for people as well - for young men in particular.

"I don't want to be a beggar, I want to work and get paid - that is why I am doing this job," then-15-year-old Shehu Usman told the news outlet.

He also shared his hopes of building his own home with plastic bottles.

Plastic pollution is a huge issue in Nigeria.
PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP via Getty Images

Advert

Getting plastic out of our oceans is a huge priority for many at the moment as there are concerns that microplastics could create something that's been subbed as 'plastic rainfall'.

A group of researchers from Waseda University in Japan recently conducted an investigation into the path of airborne microplastics (AMPs) and collected cloud water from the summit of Mount Fuji.

Upon analyzing the water, there were nine different types of polymers and one type of rubber in the airborne microplastic particles.

This result means microplastics 'may have become an essential component of clouds' and the team fears this could mean microplastics are contaminating 'nearly everything we eat and drink via 'plastic rainfall''.

Featured Image Credit: YouTube/Al Jazeera English / X/@Sandships
Niamh Shackleton
Niamh Shackleton

Niamh Shackleton is an experienced journalist for UNILAD, specialising in topics including mental health and showbiz, as well as anything Henry Cavill and cat related. She has previously worked for OK! Magazine, Caters and Kennedy.

X

@niamhshackleton

Advert

Advert

Advert

  • Doctor reveals 11 habits that are actually making you older than you really are
  • Sunken WWII warship that was submerged with more than 200 servicemen found after 81 years
  • Dad, 31, diagnosed with deadly cancer reveals red flag sign that 'scared him more than anything'
  • Private investigator reveals one common iPhone app hack that cheaters are 'obsessed' with

Choose your content:

2 hours ago
  • Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images
    2 hours ago

    5 of the biggest historical lies people still believe in despite being proved wrong

    Some of these myths have persisted for decades, despite them being disproven as nothing more than fiction

    News
  • ITV
    2 hours ago

    Mind-blowing story of woman who discovered she has a rare genetic mutation where she can’t feel pain

    The woman from Scotland has been known to break bones, accidentally burn herself and eat hot chilis without suffering any pain or discomfort

    News
  • Getty Images/Tim Robberts
    2 hours ago

    Dating coach reveals 'three-second rule' which makes people instantly more attractive in relationships

    The 'three-second' hack is certainly easy to implement into a relationship

    News
  • Eamonn McCormack/Variety via Getty Images/Christopher Polk/Getty Images
    2 hours ago

    Jennifer Lawrence gives her opinion after revealing she asked Robert Pattinson about Kristen Stewart cheating scandal

    Lawrence wanted the down-low from her Die My Love co-star Pattinson

    Celebrity