A GROUP in Bude has come together to try a new eco-friendly scheme, making positive use out of the mountains of single-use plastics that are found in our own bins.

Ecobricks is a recent breakthrough in terms of reducing the amount of plastic found in the environment — instead making positive use of it. Ecobricks are reusable building blocks, made out of single-use plastic bottles, which is filled with pieces of clean and dry plastic. They can create indoor furniture, gardens, parks and green spaces, and structures.

It is said to be one of the few ways in which to ‘effectively sequester plastic’. It helps to remove plastic from the biosphere and the industrial recycling system, and is a scheme created by the Global Enterprise Alliance, a non-profit Earth Enterprise behind Ecobricks and GoBrik.

Now the team behind Bude Rubbish Action Group (BRAG), Laila and Paul Crum, have started up their own group via Facebook to encourage local people to get involved in making Ecobricks, in order to create future projects locally out of the reusable building blocks.

Laila said: “I have seen a lot on social media about Ecobricks and I thought it looks like a good solution to the single-use plastic problem. Ecobricks can be used for a whole manner of things, from building houses to boats and a whole host of things in between.”

BRAG, a group that focuses on picking litter around Bude to prevent it entering the local beaches and, ultimately, the ocean, hosts regular cleans and allows anyone willing to volunteer to take part.

Laila added: “This is a task most people can take up in their own kitchen — even a job for the little ones. All you need is a clean plastic bottle and to stuff it with your clean, dry un-recyclable plastic until the plastic is completely compacted.”

If anyone would like to take part in making some Ecobricks, Laila is happy to store them in her garage and once there are enough of them, the long-term plan is to bring the group together for a meeting and see if it is possible to build something, such as a flowerbed, in Bude.

People can join the Bude Ecobricks Facebook page to find out more and get involved.