An Island Made From Trash

On our first day in Isla Mujeres, we stumbled across a man-made island, complete with a little home, that was about 50 yards from the shore. It turns out that this island is built from discarded plastic bottles, fruit bags, and wood pallets and that more than 70% of the materials used in the construction of the island and house were made from trash. As we approached the shore to get a better view, we saw Rishi, the owner and builder of the island, who waved hello to us and offered us a tour of the island and his home (for a small fee, of course ;)).
Since I am an environmental science instructor, this was right up my alley. I jumped at the chance to tour the island and talk to Rishi more about his home. This is the deal: he takes discarded plastic bottles and puts them in trashed mesh fruit bags. He then ties wood pallets together to form a raft, and stuffs the bags full of plastic bottles underneath the pallets to make them float. Since the plastic bottles are covered and out of the sun, they won't breakdown and in fact, they become a great home for barnacles and other sea life. After the floating platform is built, he plants mangrove trees on top of the pallets. As the trees get bigger (which takes many years, mind you), the roots dig down through the plastic bottles and grow around them. Eventually, the wood pallets will rot out, but the mangroves floating on plastic bottles will remain. The areas of his island that had the biggest mangroves were by far the sturdiest... you could really feel the difference in how hard the ground was.
This island was amazing. Rishi is living very sustainably, making very little impact on the earth, and is actually finding a viable use for all of this plastic that seems to surround us. He was given a set of solar panels so that he will eventually be able to have refrigeration and use a computer. The inside of his house was comfortable, and even quite charming. I think the island was previously a little more decked out, but after the last hurricane, there was quite a bit of damage that is still being repaired. Here, take a look:

 Here is a view of the island from shore. You can see the solar panels (not yet hooked up) to the left of the boat dock. 

 Here is a view of a bare pallet with the bags of plastic bottles underneath.

 A view of the island from shore.

 Rishi coming to get us to bring us on a tour.

 His solar oven, complete with a cooking cake (or at least he called it a cake... it looks way to healthy to be a real cake in my book!)

 

 View of the backside of the house. 

 His work out bench- the weights are also made from discarded bottles. The weight can be changed by how much they are filled up. Cool and cheap!

 

 The front room of the house. It was pretty cool inside considering how hot it was outside and the decor is definitely cozy!

 

 The shower. Water collects on the roof and comes out through a conch shell. The downside is, if it hasn't rained for awhile, there is no water the shower with.

 

 The composting toilet. It was a wee bit stinky, but only because it hadn't rained in a while (or so he says..)

 

 This will eventually become a clothes washer. It will be hooked up to a windmill, which will cause it to spin and wash clothes. The water will be heated by the sun, of course!

 

The porch swing on the top (3rd) story. Immediately in front of it is a small spa! Sweet!

 

Once we got home, I read more about this trash island. If you are interested, check out this video.


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