Like a Hand and Glove

Well, look at that. Now we have thick, flat, hollow tiles!

One of the challenges we discovered in our prototype is that the depth of the bottle caps requires a really thick layer of Thinset. And, the thickset inside the tiles didn't dry very quickly.

As if by serendipity, we discovered that the disks from peel-cap jugs pop RIGHT INTO the solid color screw caps. As if they were desigined to do this.

So we are collecting those too. Actually, tons of people were already contributing them, but now we are actively seeking them. Their technical name is snap tops, but no one knows that.

What we now have is a thick, hollow flat back tile. We could put more material inside it. The smaller screw tops from aseptic boxes of milk and soup also seem to fit well, to fill space.

We are learning!

Bottle Cap Mosaic Collection: Amazing Colors Are Adding Up!

The bottle caps are adding up! White is the big winner.

Our goal for the mosaic mural on FoodMoxie's Keyhole Garden (built of bottle bricks) is 5000 bottle caps. I suspect we are close, but since we likely will not have a keyhole garden to adorn until late spring 2017, there is time to collect many more bottle caps than that. What is not used can be moved forward to a future project.

Sorting them by color has been the next logical step. Many of the donated caps have writing or embossing on them, so those will be donated to Gimme5.  We are accumulating lots of the desirable completely solid caps. And, we have a few donors who are saving tops from Ensure Nutrient Supplement - they have an aluminum plate on the bottle caps that is relflective and very cool.

Open bins are the most efficient way to toss bottle caps in,
by color.  The color distribution will impact Eurhi's design.

These metalic caps will add sparkle and pop
to the design. The deeper liquor bottle tops are
great, though we're not sure about how varying
depth will work out.

I have collected tubs to store the caps. The most common, after white, are dark blue, yellow and red.  We are also collecting the peel off disk style bottle caps, as backing.

There are many shades of orange plastic caps, many from citrus drinks

There is a bin/tub at Across the Way,
Mt. Airy, for dropping off caps.
Thanks for all your contributions!

Bottle Cap Mosaic Workshop - Global Ed Forum

At the Global Ed Forum, 2016, here in Philly - my workshop participants came up with a really cool design, playing with my growing collection of bottle caps!

Building Blocks of Peace at Parkway Peace High School, Philadelphia

Peace High School Students, in East Mount Airy, cooperate on
creating bottle bricks filled with electronic waste - 2016

I was invited to present a workshop at the Parkway Northwest High School of Peace and Social Justice at their all-school event on International Peace Day, September 21st.

Remarkably, the day's theme was "Building Blocks of Peace". The school rounded up electronic fill from PAR-Recycle Works. This really makes the bricks win-win, since the electronic cords et al are weighty and not recyclable. They had even cut up all the cords for us into small pieces.

Below, one of the bottle brick fabricators performs the "stress test": can you stand on the bottle without it collapsing? He was sceptical, but the brick held!

Plastic Bottle Cap Mosaic Grouting Experiments - Eurhi Jones and Betsy Teutsch

Eurhi Jones working on grouting detail. Now we know we need smooth-top
bottle caps! The ones with designs got clogged with grout!

Today Euhri came over with grouting equipment. Our prototype had dried, and most of the bottle caps were well-attached to the thinset. A few larger ones were not and our first conclusion was: no deep big caps, even if they are visually fun.

Grouting is tricky, especially on an uneven surface like we created. So our next conclusion was that a few slightly deeper caps will add an interesting dimension, but we will try to be more uniform.

Grouting proceeded and then we hit a real challenge. We had included a bunch of bottle caps with a very cool citrus design. But the grout got stuck in all the crevises. It is much harder to clean grout of plastic caps than ceramic or glass. We will research alternatives. And possibly daub oil on the surface of the caps before grouting.

We resorted to using toothbrushes and toothpicks to clear off the
grout that stuck to the surfaces of the bottle cap tiles. Figuring
out a work-around!

Plastic Bottle Cap Mosaic Grouting Experiments - Eurhi Jones and Betsy Teutsch

Eurhi Jones working on grouting detail. Now we know we need smooth-top
bottle caps! The ones with designs got clogged with grout!

Today Euhri came over with grouting equipment. Our prototype had dried, and most of the bottle caps were well-attached to the thinset. A few larger ones were not and our first conclusion was: no deep big caps, even if they are visually fun.

Grouting is tricky, especially on an uneven surface like we created. So our next conclusion was that a few slightly deeper caps will add an interesting dimension, but we will try to be more uniform.

Grouting proceeded and then we hit a real challenge. We had included a bunch of bottle caps with a very cool citrus design. But the grout got stuck in all the crevises. It is much harder to clean grout of plastic caps than ceramic or glass. We will research alternatives. And possibly daub oil on the surface of the caps before grouting.

We resorted to using toothbrushes and toothpicks to clear off the
grout that stuck to the surfaces of the bottle cap tiles. Figuring
out a work-around!

The great news is that once the grouting is done, our caps look quite beautiful - my friend Mindy likened them to the sea glass that she collects. They really no longer look like plastic junk, but instead, beautiful circular tiles. See for yourself!

The left side has been grouted. See that some of the tiles are full of grout :-( and that the tiles on the left look much more mosaic/tile-y than the exposed bottle caps on the right. Success!

Bottle Brick Tamping Tools: 1/2" PVC Remnants are Ideal!

1/2" PVC scraps, cut to 12" to 16", are perfect tools for tamping down the
odds and ends of non-biodegradable stuff for bottle brick filling

FoodMoxie will be participating in the Mt Airy Village Fair on Sunday, 9/10. As part of the effort to ZeroWaste the event, we will be teaching people how to make bottle bricks by filling bottles with non-biodegradable waste. 

FoodMoxie will be using 1000 bricks to build a raised bed keyhole garden as part of their Hope Garden horicultural therapy program at Martin Luther King High.

Come by and work on brick filling. We'll have extra bottles for you to take home, and if we can find a source for PVC remnants, pictured above, we'll hand them out. Anyone have leftover 1/2" PVC piping? It is the perfect width for bottles, to compress the contents.

Let us know!