Haeli Rowland Tackles Plastic Waste with EcoBricks Initiative!

EcoBricks are created by tightly stuffing plastic or other non-recyclable trash into plastic bottles. These compact, durable “bricks” can be repurposed into structures like garden beds, benches, or walls using cement or other binding materials. Haeli Rowland, a senior majoring in Tourism Recreation and Adventure Leadership at Oregon State University, is taking a hands-on approach […]


January 21, 2025

EcoBricks are created by tightly stuffing plastic or other non-recyclable trash into plastic bottles. These compact, durable “bricks” can be repurposed into structures like garden beds, benches, or walls using cement or other binding materials.

Haeli Rowland, a senior majoring in Tourism Recreation and Adventure Leadership at Oregon State University, is taking a hands-on approach to sustainability. For her honors thesis, Rowland has launched the EcoBricks project, an innovative way to reduce plastic waste by turning it into something practical and purposeful.  She aspires for this project to be an easy way for the community to contribute to sustainability.  For many, reducing plastic or adopting eco-friendly habits can feel overwhelming. EcoBricks are a simple way to redirect waste from landfills into something constructive.

Haeli Rowland, Senior
Collection Bucket

There are 8 collection buckets across campus. Items that are not made of wood, metal, paper, or anything compostable, can be added to the buckets. Once collected, the waste is cut into small pieces and packed into bottles.  Haeli’s current goal is to make about 100 bricks to create a bench. This project will hopefully inspire larger scale change to repurpose plastic. “With the world’s inefficient recycling systems, these bricks act as temporary ‘time capsules,’ preventing plastic from sitting in landfills or polluting ecosystems until there are better solutions to breakdown or reuse these materials.” said Rowland.

The OSU community is invited to participate in the project! From January 6 to March 20, volunteers can join her on Mondays and Thursdays from 6–7 p.m. in the Agriculture and Life Sciences Building, Room 3005, to cut plastic and stuff bottles. “One brick usually takes me about an hour and a half, depending on the size and type of trash” said Rowland, “Help is always appreciated!”. 

The project is estimated to conclude in May 2025, and Rowland hopes it will leave a lasting impression on the importance of rethinking waste!

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10 thoughts on “Haeli Rowland Tackles Plastic Waste with EcoBricks Initiative!

  1. Hello Haeli,
    I saw a small house built with litter filled bottles for an elderly woman in Nicaragua years ago when traveling with Portland State University, Institute on Aging service-learning project. PSU students were responsible for the construction. There is no recycling in Nicaragua and so much litter on the roads so this “bottle house” as they referred to it, was one small way to address that issue.
    Keren Brown Wilson PhD and Margaret Neal, PhD, from PSU Institute on Aging headed up the project. It appears both may be retired from PSU now but you may be able to contact them for more information.
    Dr. Keren Brown Wilson, Founder & CEO, (503) 408 4088
    kwilson@jfrfoundation.org

    Dr. Margaret Neal
    https://www.pdx.edu/profile/exists?id=nealm

    Good luck with your project!
    Jeanne

  2. Hi Haeli! This is so cool 😀

    I’ve been making ecobricks since COVID, and have about 20 that I haven’t known what to do with…so I’d love to put them toward this project! I’m not a student though, and live out of town. Are these bins located outside of buildings? I’d like to swing by on a weekend and drop them off.

    Thank you!

  3. For Rachel K. Kirby:

    Hi Rachel! Thank you for your support on this project. So far, most conversations I’ve had with participants stem from how they can participate and how they think about the plastics they use, which is exactly what I hoped people would see once they participated in the collection and creation of the Ecobricks.
    I am actually looking for ways to introduce this project at schools or in organizations for younger people, so if you would like help or materials for an Ecobrick project at Adams Elementary School, please send me an email! I would love to help spread this initiative around Corvallis. (rowlandh@oregonstate.edu)

  4. Way to go Haily! I am so proud of you for choosing a project that makes an effort to repurpose items that would otherwise end up in the landfill. My hope is that it inspires others to consider the idea of upcycling, or better, to think about their choices when buying products in nonrecyclable packaging. I’m a volunteer with the Adams Elementary Green Team and I’m excited to show the kids your project!

  5. Hi Haeli,
    I reviewed the link you provided on frequently asked plastic questions. It’s great. It is good information and I like their presentation style and artwork. I have attached a couple of links regarding local resources that refer to recycling in general. I thought you might be interested (if you don’t already know about them!) Best. Kirk

    Corvallis Resources
    https://sustainablecorvallis.org/what-we-do/action-teams/waste-prevention/waste-prevention-resources/

    https://sustainablecorvallis.org/what-we-do/action-teams/waste-prevention/

  6. For Kirk Rensmeyer:
    Hi Kirk! Yes, this website is actually where I found the majority of the information about the ecobricks initiative and where I found the requirements for bricks to become building materials. I’m always digging around on this website to try to find new ideas for build projects or tips to creating bottles, it really is a rabbit hole of information on this topic!
    Their FAQ page is very extensive too, and covers both plastics and ecobricks questions: https://ecobricks.org/en/faqs.php

  7. For Pat Werner:
    What kind of bottles are being used?
    The bottles used at OSU for this project are 20oz plastic soda bottles, most commonly from Pepsi drinks. Other ecobricks can be used with any shape or size of plastic bottle available.

    Won’t they degrade/become brittle?
    From the papers I have read so far on the testing of ecobricks, there is a slight concern for the material to degrade, especially if exposed to lots of sunlight or precipitation. However, plastic is also a very durable material, and it takes a very long time to degrade even in extreme conditions. Many projects built out of ecobricks use cement or a mortar to “glue” the bricks together, which protects the plastic of the bricks for even longer periods of time. Additionally, indoor projects are less likely to degrade at the rates an outdoor project might experience. Overall, research and observations have shown that while plastics do have the potential to break down in certain conditions, the projects made with ecobricks are durable and can last quite a long time. I personally compare it to wooden structures, as wood has the potential to decompose even in built structures, but we are able to manage it in a way that it takes a long time before decomposition effects the structural integrity of a building.

    Is there some kind of heat process to make “bricks” uniform?
    I have not seen anything yet that heats ecobricks to make them uniform, as many projects are built with very similar or identical plastic bottles anyways. There is research on the potential for ecobricks to shrink with exposure to heat, which said there are high levels of thermal deformation, but this technique could be useful to avoid cracking of the bottles.

  8. What kind of bottles are being used? Won’t they degrade/become brittle? Is there some kind of heat process to make “bricks” uniform?
    Good idea!

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