Practical simple recycling while sitting watching TV!

Nothing brought the need for recycling and the destruction of plastic home to me more than the images of the river of garbage in Beirut!  How is it that we are allowed to continue to produce and use any form of non-recyclable items in 2019, when we know the damage they cause our oceans, our wildlife and even our own health?

My family already recycles glass, paper, tetra-pack and cardboard which (unless it is glass) is not always easy to do in East London (given the removal of most of the suburb based recycling stations)…  but it is the plastic that I find is so horrifying!  Trying to recycle plastic is like trying to find and understand Eskom’s Stage 4 load shedding schedules online (those produced by Eskom).  First, they are hard to find.  Second, they are so complicated that errors are sure to occur.  Put it this way… if you want to do something with your plastic waste but you don’t want to have to obtain a PHD to achieve this… how about trying my newest obsession… Eco Bricks!

I can just hear you now… oh man… that is not new.  Our kids do that at school.  My response is:

Yes, the kids are better educated than we are … however it is a well known fact that kids learn more at home by watching their parents, than they do at school so if we aren’t doing it… they will soon stop!

So folks, it is our turn to learn and to change our behaviour, as no matter what the teachers teach our kids at school… our kids end up following the behaviours they see at home.

So back to my obsession – Eco Bricks!  I have to admit, I am a self-confessed night owl and after a long hard day at work I love to binge watch all the lovely series on DSTV.  This results in me sitting for 3 – 4 hours a day watching TV… not very healthy I am sure you will agree.  While I do not have any children myself, I constantly hear my friends complain about how much time their kids spend in front of the television.  Yeah… you know where I am going!

So… after a particularly frustrating day of sorting the plastic into what we could recycle from what we could not recycle, it became clear that something had to be done.  My sister who is a school teacher told me about the Eco Bricks the children were being encouraged to make at school that were being collected and donated to needy schools and charities who use them to build classrooms and other shelter required.

My eureka moment happened then and there – finally a solution that solved 3 of my issues in one!  First, I could completely eliminate sending non-recyclable plastics to landfill by making Eco Bricks!  Second, rather than being sedentary by spending 3 – 4 hours sitting and watching TV,  I could now get to watch TV while recycling my unused plastic into Eco Bricks!  And last but by no means least, by sitting on my backside watching TV and making Eco Bricks, I get to help someone needy build a school or home or shelter from products neither they or the environment could afford.

So far, I am proud to say that my night time TV shows have produced 14 Eco Bricks each weight approximately 220g.  I will be handing over 3.80kg of bricks to Beaconhurst when the new term starts.

I would like to challenge every adult and child in East London to consider making TV time ‘Eco Brick Time’.  All it takes is a 2 litre plastic cool drink bottle, a wooden spoon and clean (I emphasise clean) plastic, a couch and a great TV show to help those in need and save our planet, all at the same time.

Oh… and what to do with the Eco Bricks?  Most schools are collecting so feel free to contact one near you and they will happily make sure your eco friendly contribution goes to the latest eco-brick building project in the greater East London area.  What could be easier?

Article & Photos:  Sandy Loppnow