Canadian-born John Lamorie and his Taiwanese wife, Shelly Wu have built what’s probably the most eco-friendly schoolhouse in the world in Taiwan. Using more than 2,200 pounds (over 1,000 kg) of newspapers, many donated by students, the couple has built a 75 sq-meter newspaper schoolhouse in rural Pingtung county in southern Taiwan where Lamorie and Wu live. Lamorie built a blender using a truck bed and a lawn mower blade, then fed newspapers, water and cement into it to form what he calls “Papercrete”, the main building blocks of the schoolhouse’s walls.
Papercrete’s been around since it was patented in 1928, but hasn’t ever caught on in mainstream construction. The schoolhouse walls have a silicone coating to protect against rain damage and the school will hold about 16 students. What an amazingly creative way to recycle!
After getting the idea from visiting friends, Lamorie said he built a blender using a truck bed and a lawnmower blade. Into it he fed newspapers, water and cement to form what he calls “Papercrete,” the backbone of his six-inch thick school walls.
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