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Building a cleaner future, one bottle at a time

10 June 2025 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied

According to Dr Anita Venter, eco-bricks help prevent further environmental degradation, a theme often highlighted by World Environment Day.

Students filling plastic bottles with tightly packed wrappers, chips packets, and cling wrap until they are sturdy may not look like revolutionaries, but that is exactly what they are. This Eco-Bricks initiative is a grassroots effort that transforms plastic waste into construction material, sparking environmental change from the ground up. From there, the possibilities multiply – from benches to buildings, and from awareness to action.

It is not just about just stuffing bottles; it is about shifting mindsets.

Dr Anita Venter, Lecturer in the Centre for Development Support at the University of the Free State (UFS), believes eco-bricks directly address the urgent need for solutions to plastic pollution. “By taking plastic out of the waste stream and giving it a new, useful life, we're actively participating in ecosystem restoration and preventing further environmental degradation, a theme often highlighted by World Environment Day.”

However, the Eco-Bricks project is doing more than managing waste. “Beyond this practical application, it serves as a powerful community development tool, empowering individuals to take control of waste management and fostering a vital environmental consciousness.”

And while we can dream of a plastic-free world, Dr Venter is grounded in today’s realities. “So, my approach is that I'd rather have plastic contained safely within a bottle – repurposed in a regenerative way – than seeing it break down into nano-plastics, poisoning our earth. This project is about finding practical solutions within our current reality.”

A no-cost solution

Dr Venter does not lead from a podium; she is mentoring from the sidelines. “I'm primarily involved in mentoring our student champions. They are the real drivers, facilitating the eco-brick training peer-to-peer. It's about empowering them to spread the knowledge and skills, rather than me being the sole instructor. It’s a beautiful ripple effect.”

And ripple it does. “These initiatives continue in their communities, and that truly warms my heart,” she says. The students are taking the lessons home, creating a chain reaction of action and awareness. “It’s not just about building bricks; it’s about inspiring continued action.”

The concept’s biggest success story? Thousands of eco-bricks being used by the Natural Building Collective in the Western Cape for formalised buildings. Proof that what was started by students can reshape entire landscapes.

“I see eco-bricks as an incredible community development tool. What’s beautiful about it is that it’s a no-cost activity. Anyone who wants to start a community development initiative can pick it up, and they immediately reap the dual benefits of cleaning their environment and taking control of their own waste management. It’s very empowering on a grassroots level.”

Regeneration starts here

Dr Venter, who has been part of the initiative since 2013, sees it as integral to her broader environmental work as climate activist focusing on research related to housing, informal settlement upgrading, culture, socio-ecological development, regenerative design, and art. She is quick to connect plastic pollution to the deeper ecological crisis we face. “Plastic is a monumental environmental problem, rapidly leading to biodiversity collapse, which I honestly believe is a far more pressing issue than even the climate crisis itself. It’s stark – babies are now born with plastic in their tiny bodies, and these microplastics are found in every human organ. It’s a pervasive crisis.”

With students and community leaders now steering the project, she is hopeful about the future: “The beauty of something so accessible and practical is that it doesn’t need top-down direction; it flourishes from the ground up as people recognise its value and adopt it.”

Dr Venter’s commitment to making waste meaningful goes well beyond the Eco-Bricks initiative. In the project What Remains Through Time, Slowness and Stillness, waste is transformed into meaningful art, and communities step into the role of co-creators.

Using post-natural building techniques, the project incorporates both waste and natural materials, marrying ecological restoration with social transformation. Sites such as the Oliewenhuis Art Museum, Bloemfontein National Hospital, and Sekoele Holistic Living Arts Centre serve as hubs where participants can engage hands-on, learning new skills while strengthening their communities.

According to Dr Venter, the main activities at Oliewenhuis are from June to September this year. Here, the focus is on community collaboration and regenerative art that goes far beyond constructing physical spaces. “We’re aiming to break down social barriers and make art truly accessible and inclusive within public spaces. It’s as much about building community as it is about building structures,” she says.

So, what can you do?

Start where you are. Join an eco-brick or art-for-regeneration initiative. “Go beyond sustainability! We need to regenerate, to ‘renew, restore, revitalise’,” says Dr Venter. Attend a training event. Share what you learn. “That’s how we create real, lasting change – through shared knowledge and empowered action.”

News Archive

Eye tracker device a first in Africa

2013-07-31

31 July 2013

Keeping an eye on empowerment

"If we can see what you see, we can think what you think."

Eye-tracking used to be one of those fabulous science-fiction inventions, along with Superman-like bionic ability. Could you really use the movement of your eyes to read people's minds? Or drive your car? Or transfix your enemy with a laser-beam?

Well, actually, yes, you can (apart, perhaps, from the laser beam… ). An eye tracker is not something from science fiction; it actually exists, and is widely used around the world for a number of purposes.

Simply put, an eye tracker is a device for measuring eye positions and eye movement. Its most obvious use is in marketing, to find out what people are looking at (when they see an advertisement, for instance, or when they are wandering along a supermarket aisle). The eye tracker measures where people look first, what attracts their attention, and what they look at the longest. It is used extensively in developed countries to predict consumer behaviour, based on what – literally – catches the eye.

On a more serious level, psychologists, therapists and educators can also use this device for a number of applications, such as analysis and education. And – most excitingly – eye tracking can be used by disabled people to use a computer and thereby operate a number of devices and machines. Impaired or disabled people can use eye tracking to get a whole new lease on life.

In South Africa and other developing countries, however, eye tracking is not widely used. Even though off-the-shelf webcams and open-source software can be obtained extremely cheaply, they are complex to use and the quality cannot be guaranteed. Specialist high-quality eye-tracking devices have to be imported, and they are extremely expensive – or rather – they used to be. Not anymore.

The Department of Computer Science and Informatics (CSI) at the University of the Free State has succeeded in developing a high-quality eye tracker at a fraction of the cost of the imported devices. Along with the hardware, the department has also developed specialised software for a number of applications. These would be useful for graphic designers, marketers, analysts, cognitive psychologists, language specialists, ophthalmologists, radiographers, occupational and speech therapists, and people with disabilities. In the not-too-distant future, even fleet owners and drivers would be able to use this technology.

"The research team at CSI has many years of eye-tracking experience," says team leader Prof Pieter Blignaut, "both with the technical aspect as well as the practical aspect. We also provide a multi-dimensional service to clients that includes the equipment, training and support. We even provide feedback to users.

"We have a basic desktop model available that can be used for research, and can be adapted so that people can interact with a computer. It will be possible in future to design a device that would be able to operate a wheelchair. We are working on a model incorporated into a pair of glasses which will provide gaze analysis for people in their natural surroundings, for instance when driving a vehicle.

"Up till now, the imported models have been too expensive," he continues. "But with our system, the technology is now within reach for anyone who needs it. This could lead to economic expansion and job creation."

The University of the Free State is the first manufacturer of eye-tracking devices in Africa, and Blignaut hopes that the project will contribute to nation-building and empowerment.

"The biggest advantage is that we now have a local manufacturer providing a quality product with local training and support."

In an eye-tracking device, a tiny infra-red light shines on the eye and causes a reflection which is picked up by a high-resolution camera. Every eye movement causes a change in the reflection, which is then mapped. Infra-red light is not harmful to the eye and is not even noticed. Eye movement is then completely natural.

Based on eye movements, a researcher can study cognitive patterns, driver behaviour, attention spans, even thinking patterns. A disabled person could use their eye-movements to interact with a computer, with future technology (still in development) that would enable that computer to control a wheelchair or operate machinery.

The UFS recently initiated the foundation of an eye-tracking interest group for South Africa (ETSA) and sponsor a biennial-eye tracking conference. Their website can be found at www.eyetrackingsa.co.za.

“Eye tracking is an amazing tool for empowerment and development in Africa, “ says Blignaut, “but it is not used as much as it should be, because it is seen as too expensive. We are trying to bring this technology within the reach of anyone and everyone who needs it.”

Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication

Telephone: +27 (0) 51 401 2584
Cell: +27 (0) 83 645 2454
E-mail: news@ufs.ac.za
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