Planet vs Plastic: Earth Day Ecobricks

It's Earth Day! And it's literally the best day ever to make an ecobrick.

This year's Earth Day theme is Planet vs. Plastics.

With good reason.

The results of a decade of scientific studies are overwhelmingly clear: let loose into the biosphere plastics cause problems for us, animals and Earth's systems. On top of that, more years of investigative research show that industrial systems for "recycling", incinerating and dumping plastics are failures. These strategies cause more problems than they solve. Most notably, by seeming to be solutions, they hoodwink us into continuing to consume while providing cover for big companies to continue to produce polymers untaxed and unpunished.

Despite my inclination to load up that last paragraph with links and footnotes, the conclusions of plastic research are so well established that referencing them is no longer necessary.

We all now know that plastic has an intractable propensity to become pollution.

Whether you're reading a scientific study or walking on a beach, the problem– and our desire to resolve it– is as clear and shrill as a dying bird caught in a discarded net.

What we need is a shift in perspective.

Enter: Ecobricks

As we know too well, plastic is everywhere and its nigh impossible to avoid. Plastic is now so ubiquitous, that my colleague Banayan and I argue that it is not just an emblem of our modern age but a also reflection of the very paradigm that has brought us here.

"Crafted by humans, entirely for humans, plastic is a vivid reflection of our modern, human-centered civilization."
– Angway & Maier, Tractatus Ayyew, Chapter 1

And as such, it is likewise a portal to step out of it.

Yes, plastic is a profound problem.

But diametrically and consequently, it is also the opportunity to level up.

Only by facing our own plastic head-on can we surmount the archaic human-centric view of the world that got us here.

And right here, we have tons to learn from indigenous cultures who lived a very different way. These kin-centric cultures (there's been countless of them over the ages though we tend to forget this given how pervasive and immersive ours has become) lived in such a way that they systematically enriched the ecosystems of which they were a part– steadily making them more vibrant, resilient, conscious, diverse and abundant for their kindred animals, plants and humans.

Like the Igorot people of Northern Luzon in the West Philippine Sea.

In whose land the regenerative Asian ecobrick movement began!

In their view of the world, there is no concept and no word for "waste". From the Igorot perspective waste is simply not waste; just like for us, gold is simply gold.

Their ecological ethos is embodied in the ecobricking that emerged out of their land.

Rather than callously using and discarding plastic as waste, or sending it to someone else to deal with... we can pack and secure it with love.

And in loving plastic... capture, hold, concentrate and sequester it into a building bottle block that can be put to good use, over and over again.

Then, together, with these blocks and with this view, we can build our greenest visions of a world where humans are not separate and central, where waste doesn't exist and where we all thrive together.

Onward in our plastic transition!

And Happy Earth Day.

Russell, Ani, Fran, Aang, Setiadji, Rere, Yuni and Lucie
GEA Center Circle Team

To celebrate Earth Day, you can make and post your Earth Day Ecobrick using the Global Ecobrick Alliances twibon frame:

To learn more about the Igorot view of the world, see the Earthbook edition of the Tractatus Ayyew by Banayan and Russell.