The DIY eco-island: British inventor builds floating home from 120,000 plastic bottles

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1320180/British-inventor-builds-floating-home-120-000-plastic-bottles.html

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 5:58 PM on 13th October 2010

A British man has created an island home in the Caribbean - with 120,000 plastic bottles.

Richard 'Rishi' Sowar used the rubbish that would otherwise have been buried in landfill make Spiral Island II in a lagoon off Mexico's Caribbean coast.

Filling fabric bags with the discarded bottles and then attaching them to pallets, the environmentalist's island has a house, beaches, two ponds and even a solar-powered waterfall.

Rishi Sowar Spiral Island II

Take one soft drinks bottle ..: Richard 'Rishi' Sowar, pictured here holding a cat, with some of the bottles he used to build his Caribbean island

Rishi Sowar Spiral Island II

The environmentalist's island has a house, two ponds and even a solar-powered waterfall

Situated in Isla Mujeres near the tourist resort of Cancun, it appears Rishi has created his very own piece of paradise.

He said: 'I'm not a scientist but I just believe in the power of nature.

'I get my bottles to do this from the local rubbish tip.

'We have a big problem with rubbish. If we start to make more bottle islands we don't have to look for places to put it (the bottles). It turns to treasure - it creates land.'

Rishi said the bottles, though man-made, easily fit in with their surroundings with coral taking root on the undersides of his home as he continues to expand.

Rishi Sowar Spiral Island II

Sunny side up: Solar panels are also used on the island which is made up of 120,000 plastic bottles

Rishi Sowar Spiral Island II

The island is the second built by Rishi - in 1998 he created a much larger one using 250,000 bottles off Puerto Aventura, Mexico, but it was destroyed by Hurricane Emily

He uses a boat to get to the shore and receives visitors from around the world keen to help with his ambitious project.

The island is the second built by Rishi - in 1998 he created a much larger one using 250,000 bottles off Puerto Aventura, Mexico.

However, disaster struck in 2005 when it was destroyed by Hurricane Emily.

Spiral Island II has been built in a location where it should be protected from the extremes of nature.