A Pinoy sales associate based in Dubai will pitch his Echo Bricks idea to Secretary General Ban Ki Moon at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on December 15.
This is the top prize of Jonathan Eric Defante who produced a 30 second pitch on "changing lives one bottle at a time" when the UN sponsored a YouTube contest in celebration of the World Humanitarian Day 2011. In the video, the Pinoy recommended to create a model community for every nation made out of used plastic bottles that he dubbed as "Eco Bricks".
"I will propose the building of communities sustained mainly by products made out of used plastic bottles, " said the engineering graduate from Mapua Institute of Technology. "The key steps involve the creation of a cooperative system to create sustainable jobs, education about the products that can be built using plastic bottles and a solid support by both the government and private organizations."
Prevailing ideas
Defante's Echo brick is not something new as few organizations in the Philippines have already been recycling bottles to recreate structures. In San Pablo, Laguna, for example, the first classroom bottle in Asia was built by the provincial government and the My Shelter Foundation. A mixture of cement and sand is placed inside each plastic bottle and in between bottles.
Another project of My Shelter Foundation is the Isang Litrong Liwanag (One Liter of Light) that have been giving light to hundreds of houses in Quezon City and Laguna.
The "solar bottle bulbs" are installed halfway into the corrugated metal sheets. The bottle is filled with a solution of water, salt, and liquid bleach. When sunlight hits the bottle, the light is refracted by the water and the bleach increases the brightness of a room. The luminescence from the bottle can give off a maximum power of 50 watts in every house.
According to the YouTube video, the My Shelter Foundation has already installed 600 bottles on roof tops.
These are some of the projects that Defante wanted to be effectuated in a wider scale. The UN Citizen Ambassador said there are many ways to be involved in this advocacy, zeroing into capitalizing on the use of social media. The idea of joining the contest was first introduced to him while he was browsing the internet last August 19.
"Another way is to partner up with NGOs as well as to work hand-in-hand with the government to start the initiatives in areas which needs restructuring and a new form of livelihood, " Defante noted.
Next steps
After the meeting with the UN, Defante plans to continue his advocacy by reaching out to My Shelter Foundation as well as to keep in touch with HUG IT FORWARD Foundation in Guatemala, in order for him to be more involved in the effort of rippling changes in different places around the world.
Excited about his plan to make this as his calling, the UN Ambassador furthered "I shall continue the things I have started one step at a time. First is I plan to implement it in my workplace and then to serve as an instrument for the ordinary citizen to relay the important issues and concerns to world leaders."
Defante shared this award is a life-changing experience that he wants to share to his fellow colleagues and countrymen. "I learned that one small act, done greatly can make a lasting impact. It also changed me in a way that I want to do more things that will make this world a better and safer place to live in. I will definitely carry this message as part of my career and will continue to make efforts to put the initiative into reality, one step at a time," he ended.
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