Video Editor: Mohd Irshad Alam
Ever seen a house made of bottles?
A conservation-loving octogenarian in El Salvador lives in a house made from recycled bottles ever since her house was destroyed in an earthquake.
87-year-old Maria Ponce built her home in El Borbollon, El Salvador, after collecting plastic bottles over the course of seven months.
She collected the discarded trash from roadsides and even from family and friends.
My relatives told me I was crazy, and my friends too... I built it all on my own. People would ask why I wanted the bottles and I would answer ‘to build a house’. Now everybody is surprised because visitors give me money, that’s how I survive.Maria Ponce
Maria lost her previous house in an earthquake that rocked El Salvador on 13 January 2001.
The natural disaster, which caused at least 944 fatalities and destroyed 108,261 houses, flattened her house that was made of soil and rocks.
“If it rains, the house trembles but doesn’t fall. I don’t think it will ever fall down. It doesn’t get wet, and even if it were to fall, it wouldn’t kill me,” said Maria.
Having collected the bottles – so many that she can’t remember – Maria first started by laying cement on the ground before placing the bottle caps in.
She claims that she was thinking how to build her house when she got the idea to make a bottle-house in a dream.
(With inputs from AP)
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