Making an ecobrick is not easy! Lots of people start but give up when they fail to make the brick solid enough. Those who do persevere gain a great deal of satisfaction from seeing the plastic they are removing from the environment. 
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Key things to remember:
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 CLEAN and DRY     
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​CUT and CUT AGAIN
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​PUSH AS YOU GO    
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​GET SOMEONE TO CHECK YOUR BRICK   
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If your bottle is even a little damp, or your plastic has any moisture, stop! How will you feel if after all your hard work your bottle goes mouldy and can't be used?
One of the most common errors is to put the plastic in the brick without cutting it small enough. The smaller the pieces of plastic, the more likely you are to make a successful brick. Better to cut too small than to leave pieces so big that they have air pockets and then, yes, the brick isn't solid enough.
You need a pushing stick - most people start with a long-handled wooden spoon which is used to ram the plastic down inside the bottle. But another common error is to not fill the base of the bottle sufficiently well. If the bottom third of your brick is squishy but the rest is solid, you won't be able to reach the squishy plastic to squash it down, and then, surprise, your brick won't be solid enough.
It is heart-breaking when someone arrives at the community shop with a big bag full of ecobricks and none of them are good enough to be used. Once you have completed your first brick, ask for feedback from someone who knows what a good brick should feel like. We are happy to meet you at the shop and give advice (much better than telling you we can't accept the bricks you have spent months making).
If you wish to leave your bricks at the community shop, you will need a pass. Although this sounds (and is) bureaucratic, we have introduced this system in desperation to try to reduce the number of bricks that we can't use. (Our thanks to the lovely people who helped to rectify some of the underweight bricks, but we can't keep up.)

If we have had good ecobricks from you previously, email hncshop@yahoo.co.uk and ask for a free pass. If you are an ecobricking newbie, email hncshop@yahoo.co.uk to fix a mutually convenient time to meet at the community shop - your brick will be checked and either you will get your pass or you can be helped to understand why it isn't good enough and how to make it better.

​Sadly, very sadly, ecobricks that are not good enough will end up in landfill which is not what any of us want.

UPDATE: BECAUSE OF THE CORONAVIRUS WE ARE TEMPORARILY NOT ACCEPTING ECOBRICKS. THANK YOU FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING.


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