Trash Technology and Recycled Solar: Plastic Bottles

Solar water disinfection
http://www.sodis.ch/index_EN
A two liter plastic bottle can be made into a water treatment system simply by filling it with contaminated water and exposing it to the sun. Sodis is an organization that promotes this technology around the world.

The disinfection process can be speeded by turning aluminized mylar snack food bags inside out and making them into reflectors as two young women in Belo Horizonte, Brazil discovered: http://hybridliving.com.au/news/index.php/2008/05/isef-sterilizing-water-with-trash/

Solar bottle bulbs for daylighting
http://www.elliottlemenager.com/2010/06/21/amazing-water-bottle-sky-lights/

In 2002, during a long electrical shortage, at Uberaba, São Paulo, Brasil, Mr Alfredo Moser discovered a way to gather sun light in the house through plastic bottles hanging from the roof. First shown at the Globo Reporter in the 25th May 2007.

Alfredo Moser was pressed by a scarce electricity substitution and found out that he could light his house with a bottle of water filled with water and a protection cap made of camera film.

The bottle is just refracting sunlight very effectively and produces an equivalent light power compared to a 50/60W lamp. In a rainy day, even without much light and direct sun, one still have some light. Scientist have now visited Moser and are looking into ways to take this concept to maximize its potential.

That was 2002. Now over 10,000 households, small businesses, and schools in the Philippines have installed solar bottle bulbs. Iliac Diaz of Liter of Light is attempting to spread it worldwide.
http://isanglitrongliwanag.org/

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Making-a-difference/Change-Agent/2011/0822/Used-soda-bottles-light-up-the-world-for-free

The invention is something that is so simple, cheap, and sustainable that anyone can create and maintain it themselves.

As Diaz says, the three rules of appropriate technology are that people can find it, they can replicate it, and most importantly, they can make a business of it.

Here's another Brazilian design, for a PET bottle hot water heater
http://www.temasactuales.com/temasblog/environmental-protection/waste-recycling/a-solar-water-heater-made-of-pet-bottles/

There are also plastic bottle houses
from Argentina
http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/the-house-of-plastic-bottles.html

and Nigeria
http://nationaldailyngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6798:plastic-bottle-house-now-in-nigeria&catid=111:real-estate-today&Itemid=455

In Nigeria, they fill the bottles with sand or dirt to make bottle bricks.

Here's a backpacker solar water heater
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solar-Water-Bottle-Heater/

A recycled solar cloche or cold frame for the garden
http://solarray.blogspot.com/2005/03/recycled-solar.html

All these devices make use of the Simple Solar Principles
Dark gets hot
Light reflects
Clear keeps the wind out

Most any and everybody can understand how to build and use them.

Even when a plastic bottle is chopped up, it may still help in purifying water
http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_ARTICLEMAIN&node_id=222&content_id=CNBP_028110&use_sec=true&sec_url_var=region1&__uuid=83404a1a-b1e0-4304-bd02-54148b96d1ca

“Plastic bottle” solution for arsenic-contaminated water threatening 100 million people
Note to journalists: Please report that this research was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society.

DENVER, Aug. 31, 2011
“Dealing with arsenic contamination of drinking water in the developing world requires simple technology based on locally available materials,” said study leader Tsanangurayi Tongesayi, Ph.D., professor of analytical and environmental chemistry at Monmouth University, West Long Branch, N.J. “Our process uses pieces of plastic water, soda pop and other beverage bottles. Coat the pieces with cysteine — that’s an amino acid found in dietary supplements and foods — and stir the plastic in arsenic-contaminated water. This works like a magnet. The cysteine binds up the arsenic. Remove the plastic and you have drinkable water.”

Water bottles walls, hanging bottles in south-facing windows in south-facing windows, is folk technology that goes back at least to the 19th century. Always wanted to set up a stacked thermosyphon from one gallon to five gallon container to another to see how that would affect the system. Has anyone combined solar water disinfection with solar daylighting? How about water collection and treatment with solar daylighting, water and space heating, plus PV power as one integrated system.

Previously:
Trash Technology for Education and Survival
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/05/31/980477/-Trash-Technology-for-Education-and-Survival
Fastfood Containers as Solar Devices
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/05/20/868401/-Thought-Experiment:Fastfood-Containers-Recycled-into-Solar-Devices?detail=hide&via=blog_563738
Recycled solar
http://solarray.blogspot.com/2005/03/recycled-solar.html
Solar Is Civil Defense
http://solarray.blogspot.com/2008/05/solar-is-civil-defense-illustrated.html
Small-scale LED Lighting, Off-Grid Cell Phones
http://solarray.blogspot.com/2009/05/small-scale-led-lighting-off-grid-cell.html
Solar Insurgency
http://solarray.blogspot.com/2007/11/solar-insurgency.html
Solar Swadeshi
http://solarray.blogspot.com/2010/12/personal-power-production-solar-from.html
Gandhian Economics
http://www.globalswadeshi.net/forum/topics/notes-from-foundations-of


All I know about simple solar is at
http://solarray.blogspot.com/2009/09/simple-solar-parts-1-2-and-3.html
http://solarray.blogspot.com/2009/12/simple-solar-parts-4-through-8.html