Non-Profit Turns Discarded Soda Bottles Into Thatch Roofing

Perhaps the iconic image of developing-world poverty is a small collection of huts with thatched roofs. Unfortunately for those living in such places, these roofs are terrible. They leak and, when water-logged, often collapse. The grasses used to fabricate them are becoming scarcer. Insects and other undesirable critters live in them. People moving out of poverty quickly ditch thatch, upgrading to materials such as corrugated tin.

Corrugated tin roofs are waterproof but have serious downsides. They trap heat, and though a super hot home may be less miserable than getting rained on, it is nevertheless is unpleasant. When it rains, the noise can be so deafening it drowns out everything. Read more...