We want to inspire the building of 1000 bottle brick benches around the world to symbolize our collective desire for a more sustainable, more just, and more peaceful world!
Imagine if 999 cob benches were constructed at schools, ecocenters, embassies, and other organizations around the US and the world, with the 1000th bench built in the Middle East? This bench would have bottle bricks from Israel, bottle bricks from Palestine, and one bottle brick from every other bench around the world! It would be built right on the border - a symbol for peace in the most volatile area on Earth.
Benches have already been built in Bolivia, the Philippines, Colombia, Ghana, throughout CA, and in Utah. Benches are being planned all over the states and the world!
Want to build your own bench? Email brennan@earthbench.org or go to http://www.earthbench.org for more information!
These natural bench photos were copied from the web, from around the world as inspirations and ideas for how we can beautify our built spaces with cob, bottle bricks, and human power.
What is Cob?
Cob is an earthen building material consisting of clay, sand, straw, and water. When mixed together, it becomes an earthen concrete. Cob is fireproof, resistant to seismic activity, and inexpensive.
Cob can be used to create artistic, sculptural forms and has been revived in recent years by the natural building and sustainability movements.
The first human-made homes were built out of earth. Today over 3 billion people in six continents live in earthen homes. The advent of buildings made from concrete, wood, metal and stucco is a very recent phenomena. By learning how to build a cob bench, students and community members can return to their natural building roots! The hope is that these cob benches will inspire people to build their own homes out of sustainable building materials.
