Single Use Plastic, CoVid-19 and Ecobricking
New guidelines in a report published by the Global Ecobrick Alliance enables citizens to take action and curtail the potential spread of the CoVid-19 virus on single-use plastic, reduce the strain on central waste management, and make garden building blocks. For more information see our dedicated CoVid-19 Ecobrick Page or download our official press release.
We’ve assembled this guide to help journalists avoid common misconceptions and connect with generally accepted ecobrick concepts and principles. The Global Ecobrick Alliance endorses the spelling and terminology that have been collectively determined by the ecobrick movement and we encourage like usage. The terminology, principles and concepts listed here are mirrored on the official wikipedia Ecobricks page. For Global Ecobrick Alliance content, please follow our attribution guidelines for quotations, videos and photos.
Correct Spelling: ‘ecobricks’
In 2016, ecobrick leaders around the world conferred and agreed that our concept deserved its own full fledged and normalized word. The agreement was made to spell ‘ecobrick‘, as a common noun (non-hyphenated, without spaces or special capitalization). Since 2017 this is the endorsed spelling of the ecobrick’s Wikipedia entry and url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecobricks. We refer to the act and lifestyle of making ecobricks as ‘ecobricking’ and those who make ecobricks as ‘ecobrickers’.
Misconceptions
Please avoid the common misconceptions about ecobricks:
- “Ecobricks are made with plastic trash”— No where in Global Ecobrick Alliance materials do we refer to plastic as ‘trash’. This is the antithesis of ecobricks which views plastic as a resource. Please avoid associating ecobricks with “trash” or “garbage”.
- “Ecobricks are for building schools and homes”— Although you can build structures with them, 99% of ecobricks are being used for small home, school and community creations. We focus on tiny applications, like furniture models, Lego, and especially gardens as per our principles.
- “Ecobricks are for developing countries and poor people”— Ecobricks are for anyone who wants to take responsibility for their plastic, and are relevant around the world. See our transcaste principle.
- “Ecobricks are for places where recycling isn’t an option” — Ecobricks are ideal for places with recycling. Ecobricks help keep plastic out of the failing recycling industry.
- “Ecobricks is a Sustainable Development technology”: The ecobrick movement explicitly differentiates itself from “sustainabity” and “development” paradigms. Please do not refer to ecobricks in this light. Ecobricks is a non-capital, collaboration powered, regenerative technology.
- “The GEA is a Company or an NGO”: The Global Ecobrick Alliance is not a company nor an NGO. We are a not-for-profit Earth Enterprise.
Quotations
When using written content from our site our resources please attribute to “The Global Ecobrick Alliance – Ecobricks.org”. ‘Ecobricks.org” is not necessary if a hyperlink is added to the attribution.
Videos
All the videos on this site and on our YouTube channel are available for you use under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Please attribute to Ecobricks.org
Photos
All the photos on this site (unless containing specific photo credits) available for you to use under our Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Please attribute to Ecobricks.org
Interviews
Interational: vision@ecobricks.org
UK: ukecobricks@gmail.com
Media Coverage of Ecobricks and the GEA
CNN Indonesia: 60 minute Inrussmaier@gmail.com, lizrex08@gmail.comsight Interview with Desi Anwar, Ani Himawati, and Russell Maier on the Ecobrick movement
Spot.ph: “This Canadian Accidentally Discovered How to Solve Our Plastic Problem” An interview on Russell’s time in the Philippines and the history and current state of Ecobricking there.
Ecobricks Feature on National Korean TV
Ecobrick Convergence Featured on Jogja city TV
Ecobrick Spread in Jogjakarta and the Jogja Ecobrick Team Featured on NET.TV
Life Athletics Pod Cast with Nik Wood: Rusell Maier Ecobricks and Frisboo
Solving Plastic One Bottle at a Time in the Northern Philippines: 10 minute documentary on Russell Maier and the spread of Ecobricks in the Norther Philippines.
Stock ecobrick photos for Media use.
CC-By-SA usage license: Please caption credit all photos to ecobricks.org. Use provided captions as appropriate.
Ecobrick Furniture in Action
Ood Lantip, reads a book on his Ecobrick courch, beside his ecobrick table in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia.
Cilacap Scout Troop Gets Ecobricking
A scout group learns to ecobrick through the efforts of GEA Trainer Mas Noor Hydaya in Cilacap, Central Java, Indonesia.
Dieleman Ecobrick Lego Modules
Senior GEA Trainers, Ani and Russell pose with a set of dieleman ecobrick lego modules at a city event in Cilacap, Central Java Indonesia.
Ecobrick Modular Home Furniture
Senior GEA Trainers, Russell and Ani, serve tea and lunch at their home on their ecobrick furniture.
Ecobricks put to use to make an outdoor rocking chair in South Africa
Stirling Primary School, East London, South Africa has not only been making hundreds of ecobricks, but also putting them to use.
Cozy Ecobrick Home Furniture
Children relax on their home ecobrick furniture in Central Java, Indonesia.
Most recent Covid-19 Ecobricks Logged on GoBrik
Frequently Asked Questions
See our full list of answers to Frequently asked questions
- What is an ecobrick? /what
- How to make an ecobrick? /how
- Why make ecobricks? /why
- Who are you guys? /about
- Where can I drop my ecobricks? /dropoff
- What is Cradle-to-Cradle design? /circular
- What can you build with ecobricks? /build
- What are Ecobrick Modules?/modules
- How to make an ecobrick bench? /earth
- How to make ecobrick Lego? /dms
- What about beach and ocean plastic? /oceanecobrick
- How to connect with the movement? /movement
- How to get trained to teach ecobricks? /trainings
- What is the PTR? /ptr
- What can companies do? /catalyst
- The Dangers of Plastic /poison
- How to do a story on ecobricks /media
- How to contribute /contribute
- Gobrik Flow /flow
- How to sign up for an account /start