Reduce, reuse, recycle….

Busy times at the Al Numeira Environmental Association! We are in the middle of several experiments to figure out how to reuse certain materials. For example one of our volunteers came up with a recipe for a plaster made of water, wood glue and waste paper, so now we have a solution for the dusty walls in the mud brick house and we are reducing the amount of waste at the same time! With dark mud from the Wadis we created some ornaments on the wall. If you want to try it yourself, here is the recipe: Cut paper into small pieces (Don’t use laminated paper! It won’t soak in the water.), mix it with water until it has a similar consistence like mash. Now add the wood glue and maybe some colors. Moisten the wall a little bit and apply the mixture. It will take some time to dry but then you have a very stable layer of plaster.

DSCN1903 — Made from paper, wood glue, water, mud from the Wadi and a lot of patience.

Hopefully we are able to repeat this success with our plastic bottle project: We are trying out several ideas how to use plastic bottles for gardening, for example we are building a foundation for a flowerbed out of sand filled plastic bottles. As we need a lot of bottles of the same size and the bottle caps as well, we have asked the neighbours not to throw away their plastic bottles, but to collect them for the project. Plastic bottles can also be used as plant pots. Depending on how we cut the planting hole into the bottle, we observed different evaporation effects, because the bottle works as a small-scale greenhouse.

Meanwhile, Malik finished a very special recycling project: He used his mechanical skills to turn an old motor and a plastic barrel into a leban machine. Now recycling is not only good for the environment, but it also tastes good!