Recycled Plastic Bottles Construct Classrooms for Maasai Community by Hinsdale’s Kellie O’Brien

HINSDALE, Ill. (WLS) — ABC7’s Tracy Butler first sat down with Kellie O’Brien of Hinsdale, more than a decade ago.

“I’m neither an architect nor a teacher, and I didn’t have the opportunity to attend college. However, I knew a school was necessary for this village,” O’Brien explained to Tracy in 2011. “I took an envelope out of my bag and sketched our very first classroom design right on it,” she added.

From paper to reality, her idea came to life as the O’Brien School for the Maasai in Sanya Station, Tanzania.

The private school O’Brien founded, has been around for 17 years, transforming the lives of young children and their families.

O’Brien, now 82, said, “Everything has been made possible by the generosity of those around us.” Born on a farm in the suburban area of Crestwood and a local horticulturalist, she sat with Tracy to discuss the school. It’s grown considerably, but not through conventional building methods.

The school started using discarded plastic bottles to build more classrooms and a reception house, after connecting with a global nonprofit.

“This truly resonated with me because over the years I’ve spent in Tanzania, I’ve noticed the streets are littered with discarded water bottles, and these piles keep increasing,” O’Brien remarked. “There was no system in place for recycling them,” she noted.

“People don’t trust the water supply, so that’s why everybody drinks bottled water,” said Smiley Hsu, a volunteer and board member for the nonprofit Bottles2Bricks.

Hsu is based in Florida but O’Brien learned about the group through its co-founder Lori Ward of Clarendon Hills.

At the time, the group had already been constructing schools and libraries out of recycled water bottles in Cameroon where plastic waste is a problem as well.

“The thinking was – can we turn this problem into a solution,” said Hsu. “We found this incredible technology where you fill the bottles with soil or sand and convert them into bricks and we use these as bricks to build buildings.”

It takes about 15,000 bottles or a few truckloads worth of bottles to build a couple of classrooms, according to Hsu.

And they’re built to last.

“As you may know, plastic bottles have a life span of 500 plus years before they degrade,” said Hsu.

But their efforts go beyond teaching the community how to build.

“We’re creating jobs, we are creating hope. We are also cleaning the environment,” said Hsu.

And on the side of the school’s reception house remains exposed plastic bottles in the shape of the African Baobob Tree – a reminder of what they built together.

“We have a building made of recycled water bottles, and I just my heart was smiling everyday,” said O’Brien.

The engineering behind Bottles2Bricks was first created by German Ecologist Andreas Froese. He and his wife lived in a house made of plastic bottles for 25 years in Jamé, Coahuila – in Northern Mexico. And it’s still standing, despite earthquakes, storms, and other extreme weather.

The widows of the Massai community also help raise money for the school through sales of their handmade jewelry. You can learn more about the O’Brien School the Maasai on their website.

To help support or volunteer with Bottles2Bricks, click here.