Walter’s house is the first to be completed since we began rebuilding after Hurricane Matthew. We have been working hard to repair and build using a method that is not only sturdy, but environmentally friendly. The houses are made with the usual mixes of sand and concrete, with the addition of plastic bottles into the walls. These walls will be more resistant to natural disasters than walls using concrete blocks because they are 100% solid. The plastic bottle walls also serve as a way to repurpose the plastic bottles that enter the community. The influx of plastic bottles in Haiti has caused large sums of plastic waste to accumulate on the island and in its oceans. Each new house will contain over four thousand bottles, making plastic bottles a hot commodity. Not only does the new year bring new homes, the streets of Matènwa have never been cleaner.
