Building a bottle school may be possible without partnerships to support the process – but its much easier with them! As soon as you have the idea to build a bottle school, start thinking about who else would be grateful for the opportunity of contributing to the project.
The Municipality
Mayors are often delighted to support the construction of a bottle school, because it’s an opportunity to get much-needed educational infrastructure built in the community they serve, at a very low cost to them. The municipality may be able to contribute the skilled labor of masons that are in their employment. The municipality may have materials (cement, sand, rebar, etc) left over from previous projects that they can donate, and they may also be able to help with transporting materials.The municipality may have access to an architect and/or structural engineer who can help draw up plans for the bottle school. As always, be sure to get any agreements in writing.
Partnering with neighboring communities
In our experience, we have found that neighboring communities (above all, the kids in the communities), especially in bigger towns with a larger and more consistent amount of post-consumer waste, are gladly willing to help with collecting bottles and trash and making eco-bricks. Use this opportunity to extend the reach of your environmental education program.