I just found these great tips by students at Humboldt State University on the Appropedia website. This is the best system I’ve seen. Thanks for sharing!
Bottle bricks were made by using a tile saw to cut bottles harvested from the waste stream. The tile saw was set to cut the bottom 3inches of the bottle off. We butted the bottom parts of two bottles together and wrapped them in aluminum flashing and duct tape. The flashing acts as a reflector, sending light through the bottle and into the shed. Without the flashing, much light would be lost to the interior of the wall. We often used the butt of a clear bottle on the interior of the wall and a colored bottle on the exterior. This method allowed for brighter light to enter the shed.
Image credit Carrie Schaden
This is an old post but I just stumbled upon it. If you haven’t gotten this info yet, plates are between 2.5mm and 3.5mm thick. My father’s a printer, and informs me that the non-anodized side is quite prone to corrosion (although some plates have images on both sides), and that most print shops sell their used plates for recycle, so coming upon a free source is a rarity. There’s a 1981 article by a guy who did make roofing tiles from printing plates: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It-Yourself/1981-05-01/Shingle-Your-Roof-For-60-Dollars.aspx. I wonder if you could do it using whole plates like other forms of metal roofing, and save all that crazy cutting and folding. We’re looking at cheap roofing alternatives, so if this were feasible I’d be interested. could you treat the non-anodized aluminum so that it wouldn’t corrode? Strange that in the article he doesn’t mention that issue.
You’ll have to research the details. Sorry, I’m too busy.
Go to your local printer, pick up the aluminum printing sheets for free. (At least our guy gives them away free!) Cut then w/ heavy sissors or tin snips.
I’ve heard about these. How thick are they, and is it possible to get enough to shingle a small house?
From Jozef:
there is an easier way to make bottles than to use a tile saw.
here’s how:
score the bottle using a glass key (scoring/cutter) tool
put the bottle over the sink
pour hot water from a boiling tea kettle over the top of the bottle ( I dunk mine into a pot of boiling water up to the score mark)
then I pour cold water over the lower half (up to the score mark)
you should hear a tiny “tink” sound
and the glass will break in a perfect circle
I have done this many times without error or shatter
In Prosperous Health,
Jozef Woronieck, MS
Ecology Director &
Green Academy Coordinator
Hayward High School
http://anaturalplanet.info/