11 TOP TIPS FOR MAKING ECOBRICKS

WHAT KIND OF BOTTLE SHOULD I USE?

• Any size
• Needs to be clear plastic - ie not opaque like milk bottles or coloured like Fruit Shoots
• NOT milk bottles - they're too squishy and the handles are impossible to stuff
• Bottles with lots of ridges on the sides might also be hard to stuff effectively
• Avoid sports tops (although you can swap a sports top for a normal top)

WHAT IF I'M SO AWESOME AT REDUCING PLASTIC THAT I NO LONGER HAVE ANY PLASTIC BOTTLES IN THE HOUSE TO STUFF?

YAY! Go you 🙂
Options for you are...

• Litter pick and find one - this will be disappointingly easy
• Knock on a neighbours door and ask them. Also a great 'in' for a conversation about what you're doing and why 😉

WHAT PLASTIC CAN I STUFF IN MY ECOBRICK? 

Anything! AS LONG AS it's clean and dry. If it's not, it will go mouldy in your Ecobrick and I'm sure we can all imagine that a mouldy Ecobrick is NOT a good thing.
This is not a comprehensive list - basically if it's plastic, you can get it clean and dry and you can chop it up small it can go in.

SHOULD I RECYCLE MY RECYCLABLE PLASTIC OR ECOBRICK IT?

As Lucie points out in the podcast, plastic recycling is a difficult thing. Across the UK there are very different schemes depending on what county you live in, which is determined by the contracts that local councils have negotiated with waste companies. And depending on which waste company your council is contracted to will determine what happens to your plastic recycling.
In Wiltshire, our plastic is collected and recycled within the UK (GOOD). In lots of other counties it will be collected and exported (BAD). And once it's out of the country, the council can tick their "plastic has been recycled" box without ever actually really knowing what's happened to it. 
With Ecobricks, we at least know where our plastic is, and what is being done with it. We are taking a personal responsibility for the plastic we are using. And if they are looked after correctly our Ecobricks should still be around and usable as a resource in tens or even hundreds of years time.

HOW DO I WASH MY PLASTIC?

Rinsing in the leftover washing up water is the best/easiest option. Crisp packets etc can often be simply wiped with a washing up cloth and a spray of vinegar or cleaning spray.
In the podcast Lucie says she has tried both the dishwasher and the washing machine and neither have worked (you have been warned...)

HOW DO I DRY MY PLASTIC?

* TOP TIP ALERT *
Lucie recommends gathering up the wet/damp plastic and popping it all into a pillowcase which is then pegged out on the washing line for a few hours/days (depending on the weather and how much plastic is in there).

WHAT'S THE BEST WAY TO CUT UP THE PLASTIC?

The plastic needs to be cut up small so that it can all be tightly wodged together inside the brick, and smaller pieces wodge together much more easily.
The basic rule here is to use what you already have. Don't go out and buy special Ecobricking scissors, or shredding scissors, or a rotary blade - it kind of defeats the point that making an Ecobrick is supposed to make us more mindful of what we're buying and consuming...

WHAT'S THE BEST WAY TO STUFF THE PLASTIC INTO THE BOTTLE?

You need to get yourself a poky stick. Something like the handle end of a wooden spoon works well for smaller bottles. For taller ones you might need to fashion yourself something out of stick? It needs to be able to fit through the neck of the bottle, reach to the bottom and not be sharp (so it doesn't pierce the bottle).
* TOP TIP ALERT *
When I made my first Ecobrick I had it on the table and pushed the plastic in before ramming it down with my wooden spoon. It was quite hard work and I had to put a lot of pressure down onto the table and very nearly gave myself a hernia. Lucie's advice is to hold the bottle upside down and gently squidge the plastic up, and along the sides. This is apparently much less likely to end up in physical injury and is far easier.  

WHY DO I NEED TO WEIGH MY ECOBRICK?

In order to be brick like, the Ecobricks need to be really dense and heavily packed. And the best/easiest way of assessing it's density is to weigh it.
The 'golden formula' is:
Ecobrick weight to aim for in grams  = volume of bottle x 0.33
eg. If you have a 1L (1000ml) bottle, it needs to weigh 1000(ml) x 0.33 = 330g

WHAT IF MY ECOBRICK ISN'T HEAVY ENOUGH?

Cry. A lot.
And then see if you can squish anymore plastic in. And if you can't, you may need to resort to picking out the plastic you've painstakingly wedged in, and trying again.

WHAT DO I DO WITH MY ECOBRICK ONCE I'VE MADE IT?

All sorts! The whole idea with Ecobricks is that they are used in projects as close to where they are made as possible. So Ecobricks from the UK would never be shipped abroad.
Ideally you can use them for a project in your own home or garden - the most common projects being stools and things like raised beds. Or check out the picture of a table lamp someone very inventive made!
If you have no use for them at home, you can look to see if there any community projects going on local to you, or if you have a local drop off point (there's a list of UK drop off points in the 'files' in the Ecobricks UK Facebook group). If there isn't, could you club together with a few friends or a local Brownie pack or school to create your own community project?
Failing that, you can post them to Lucie at Newforest Aquaponics and she distributes them to porjects who are short on bricks.

BONUS TIP...

The best Ecobrick you can make is the one you CAN'T make because you've reduced your plastic use so much you no longer have any to Ecobrick.
REFUSE single use plastic. REDUCE your use of the plastic you can't avoid. REUSE the plastic you do have. And THEN Ecobrick.