Maker of Eco-Connect Bottle System has lofty goals

A computer-generated Eco-Connect goal.

If watching the 2010 World Cup from South Africa has inspired you to set up a soccer goal at home, there's an alternative to store-bought goals. Developed by Steve Klein, a former New York City schoolteacher, the Eco-Connect Bottle System is intended to be a green, inexpensive way to make a soccer goal (a computer-generated version of the goal is shown) out of empty, used plastic soda bottles. The Eco-Connect system, hopes Klein, could also be used for toys and building materials.

The Eco-Connect Bottle System puts a threaded indentation on the bottom of the plastic bottles, allowing you to make a goal by screwing the bottles together. You connect the goalposts, crossbar, and other legs using a series of connectors. (Read this important safety advice about soccer goals from the Consumer Reports Safety blog.)

Beyond goals, Klein says the Eco-Connect Bottle System connectors can array bottles into grids that might be used as insulation in construction or to build temporary shelters to disaster victims. "If bottles like this were donated to a place like Haiti after a natural disaster, they would have material for shelters and building insulation, and the kids could make toys to play with," says Klein, who adds that plastic bottles and chicken wire have already been used to build a school in Guatemala.

Klein hopes that beverage companies will license his technology for use with their existing bottles and to develop their own custom connector kits.

—Gian Trotta

Essential information: If you're looking to cut down on the number of plastic bottles you use, read our review of water filters and this blog post on seltzer makers. And check out these plans for a DIY soccer goal on Instructables.com, which also offers instructions for a plastic-bottle-made bird feeder, herb garden, barometer, table, and recycling container. Learn about a home in Argentina made with glass bottles.

Comments

[Matt Burnett]

The immediate flaw I can see with this is that it's called the eco connect but surely, if these take off, people will hang onto the bottles rather than recycle them, hence becoming very un-eco friendly!

[rp]

This actually seems like a good idea, and extremely cheap. Someone could make money making fittings, tees, crosses etc.
I believe all or at least most soda bottles use the same cap thread.

[Mr. Chu]

Interesting...I wonder how long before it be comes mainstream!

[THe Ambassador]

We should be figuring out how to get away from using plastics, not finding fun ways to do more with them.
f#@%!!!!

[Mike]

I like the innovation, but I think the idea still misses the ultimate goal. Not to mention, for the bottles to be sturdy enough for any type of building material, it would need to be constructed of thicker & more plastic, than might normally be used.

We want less plastic, not more of it. The disasters he speaks of don't generally happen often enough for a major change to this type of bottle, and would companies have any real incentive to go with this more expensive bottle. I certainly wouldn't have anough use for them to warrant buying tons of them, i've got enough bottles on my porch, waiting to be taken for recycling.

[John T]

Great idea! I hope to see it on the store shelves. My kids would love it - I think I might too!

[Kisai]

This isn't a bad idea on the surface, basically if the beverage container manufacturer's made it so all their bottles had the same structural strength, one could assemble frameworks from the bottles that are cheap, lightweight, and reuseable.

The larger problem is, as stated, more of this plastic doesn't get recycled and instead just gets photodegraded while outside. It might work as a temporary solution in an emergency (water bottles sent to disaster areas can be reused for temporary structures) but the bottlers can never market this use since it will invite lawsuits when some structure collapses on people, making a bad problem worse.

[Low Budget Dave]

This is the best way to reycle. Continue using the plastic in its current format. Why has no one done this before now?

[Lollie Dot Com]

Whichever company goes eco-connect on all their drink bottles first has my loyalty for three months. There ought to be a facebook page for people to sign up to that effect. And what if the eco connect bottles were rectangular like the fiji bottles, only with connectable ridges.... 60 million thrown out a day, that could be instant housing in emergency situations like Haiti. So why wait? Why not sweeten the deal for the soda pop companies till one of them jumps on board?