Ecobricking follows the Earth’s ancient example of cycling, securing and storing carbon. When an ecobrick has been authenticated to have sequestered plastic it means a contribution to the greening of the biosphere has been made.
To ensure that ecobricking follows the Earth’s example of carbon care, the Global Ecobrick Alliance (GEA), has established ecobricking standards based on our criteria of plastic sequestration.
The GEA hosts the Brikcoin manual blockchain as a platform for ecobrick authentication. Accessed through our Gobrik app, it enables the peer-to-peer review of every ecobrick logged. Once an ecobrick is authenticated to have met GEA standards, it’s net weight is referred to as Authenticated Ecobrick Sequestered Plastic (AES Plastic).
AES Plastic counts towards personal and enterprise plastic transition and impact accounting. AES plastic can be purchased as a plastic offset credit on the GoBrik app.
Ecobricking Standards
The Global Ecobrick Alliance maintains standards to ensure that ecobricked plastic meets the criteria of plastic sequestration. These standards pertain to the making of the ecobrick but most important to the final state of the packed plastic. Standards include…
- The ecobricked plastic is clean and dry and within the appropriate weight range for its volume and type.
- The ecobricked plastic has created a sturdy and safe building block that can be reused indefinitely in the short-term.
- The ecobricked plastic is fully secured from all forms of degradation so that it can be used as a long-term building block.
Further and specific ecobrick standards depend on the type of ecobrick being made.
Learn more about GEA Ecobricking Standards.
Learn more about the criteria of plastic sequestration.
Validation & Authentication
Independent ecobrick authentication is the final step of plastic sequestration.
Due to the crucial importance of making an ecobrick properly, the GEA maintains and develops the GoBrik platform and the Brikcoin manual blockchain. The GoBrik platfrom leverages the planet passion of the global community of ecobrickers to review every ecobrick that is logged in a process of peer-authentication.
When ecobricks are logged on GoBrik, they are automatically added to the public validation queue. There, any active ecobricker may review the ecobrick and validate that it has been made properly and meets minimum GEA standards. When three independent reviewers have validated the ecobrick, the system tallies their reviews and either authenticates or rejects the ecobrick as sequestered plastic.
Only authenticated ecobricks are considered authenticated sequestered plastic (AES plastic).
Ecological Value
Plastic is largely made up of carbon. It is roughly three times as dense as the average tree. By ensuring that our plastic management follows the very same ways that the Earth has used to green the biosphere, we can be sure that we’re making a greening ecological contribution. As such, our AES plastic is valuable. We can be sure that it is…
- …plastic whose management had a net carbon subtractive (greening) impact.
- …plastic that has been secured and stored out of industry and our of the biosphere.
- …plastic that won’t degrade into microplastics, CO2 or green house gases.
- …plastic that will shortly be put to local use for short-term household projects.
- …plastic that will be put to use to build earth and ecobrick green spaces.
- …plastic whose not-for-profit, non-industrial processing raised ecological consciousness.
- …plastic whose processing is accelerating plastic and petro-capital transition
- …plastic that can no longer carry the Covid-19 virus nor weigh down our municipal waste systems.
- …plastic that will be a gift to future generations and ages.
The GEA theorizes that for each 1Kg of AES plastic packed, 2.4 Kg of plastic will not be consumed or produced. In other words, the consciousness raising effect of the process of ecobricking dissuades the ecobricker’s consumption of plastic by 240%.
Commodification
Authenticated Ecobrick Sequestered plastic serves as the foundation of the Brikcoin currency through the valuable ecological service that it represents.
Authenticated ecobricks generate brikcoins based on the amount of sequestered plastic they contain (measured in Kg). 10 Brikcoins are generated for every 1Kg of ecobrick plastic that is authenticated. As such the Brikcoin currency is based directly on AES Plastic Standard and the ecological service it represents.
Authenticated ecobricks are automatically posted to the public Brikchain, made available for user exchanges, posting on the GoBrik Marketplace and count towards a user’s Plastic Transition Ratio. Brikcoins can be used on the GoBrik platform to register for courses, purchase regenerative products, and exchanged for ecobricks and more. Brikcoins can also be converted into the AES Plastic equivalent to gain plastic offsetting credit.
The full accounting of generated brikcoin blocks is stored on our human searchable brickchain.
Plastic Offsetting
To compensate for our plastic consuption we we can support those who are doing the hard of plastic sequestration.
We live in a world where its almost imporssible to not use plastic. Regardless, the plastic that we consume is our responsibility. AES Plastic registered on the Brikcoin manual blockchain enables the revolutionary new concept of plastic offsetting. Offsetting is a means to balance your personal grey plastic impact and to support the green work of those sequestering plastic.
Offsetting means balancing. Plastic offsetting is way to balance off the plastic you consume or produce. Its a little bit like how some people plant trees (or buy credits representing planted trees) to balance off the carbon footprint of an airplane flight. In the same way, plastic offsetting allows individuals and companies to purchase credit for plastic that has been sequestred.
Each 1 kg of Plastic Offset Credit purchased represents 1 kg of authenticated ecobrick sequestered plastic. AES Plastic is directly tied to the Brikcoin manual blockchain. Unlike other blockchains that are based on the work of computers behind the scenes doing intensive calculations, each 1kg of credit directly represents the real-world work of ecobrickers and validators around the world. Purchasing offsets direct values their ecological contributions and brikcoin balances.
Plastic Offsets purchases on GoBrik.com are certified by the GEA. Purcahses are recorded on the blockchain and the buyers account is credited accordingly.
The amount of AES plastic offset credits available for purchase is limited and given a set price. Price and availability corresponds to the expenses of the GEA in maintaining the blockchain vs the amount of plastic sequestered in the previous year. The purchase of AES goes directly to the continuation of this work and to floating the value of Brikcoins– which ecobrickers are enabled to earn from their ecobricking.
On our GoBrik.com platform you can purchase of plastic offsets, measured in kilograms of sequestered plastic using brikcoins or normal currency. Offset certificates can be used by companies, events, and households to compensate for specific amounts of plastic that they produce and consume.
Learn more about the calculation of the price per KG
Learn more about the offsets in the Brikcoin Whitepaper
Read the Terms & Conditions of holding Brikcoins and AES Plastic
Equivalent CO2 Sequestration
Ecobrick Plastic Sequestration also prevents the release of CO2 from plastic degradation, industrial processing and petro-capital participation.
In 2018, the GEA estimated that for every 1kg of plastic that is burned, 3.1kg of C02 is released based on the average carbon content of average single use plastic. As of August 2020, the GEA is currently preparing a white paper report re-xamining our estimated CO2 impact of authenticated ecobrick sequestered plastic based on the points above.
As such AES Plastic has a CO2 sequestration value. We are currently working to calculate this value based on the following AES plastic carbon services…
- Ecobrick sequestered plastic won’t be incinerated and won’t release its stored carbon as CO2.
- Ecobrick sequestered plastic won’t generate more CO2 through its processing in the recycling industry
- Ecobrick sequestered plastic won’t photodegrade releasing CO2 and other green house gases
- Ecobrick sequestered plastic won’t degrade into microplastics and interfere with zoo plankton and their work sequestering carbon in the oceans
- Ecobrick sequestered plastic will be used to make home furniture, removing the need to purchase industrially manufactured, shipped, and disposed furniture
- Ecobrick sequestered plastic will be used to build with earth mehtods– encouraging localized regenerative building and alleviating the need for cement and industrial materials which have large CO2 impacts
- The work of ecobricking represents time not spent participating in the petro-capitial economy (buying, consuming, etc) and the CO2 generation.
- The process of ecobricking raises ecological consciousness and encourages the lowering of plastic consumption and its associated CO2 generation
- The process of ecobricking accelerates plastic transition and disassociation from the petro-captial economy and its CO2 generation.
In 2018, the GEA estimated that for every 1kg of plastic that is burned, 3.1kg of C02 is released based on the average carbon content of average single use plastic. As of January 2021, the GEA is currently preparing a white paper report re-examining our estimated CO2 impact of authenticated ecobrick sequestered plastic based on the points above.
On the GoBrik app, successfully authenticated ecobricks are currently credited with a CO2 sequestration credit of 3.1kg CO2 per 1Kg AES plastic..
Is Ecobrick Plastic Sequestration a Final Solution for Plastic?
In the circular systems of the biosphere and its ecologies, there’s never such thing as ‘final’.
Plastic is made almost entirely from carbon. This carbon originates from ancient organisms that were compacted and secured under the earth millions of years ago. Our work sequestering plastic is another turn of this cycle. Just as the Earth subtracted carbon out of the atmosphere to make it the thriving biosphere that we know today, we can do the same by giving our carbon another spin of secured storage.
Just as the dinosaurs had no idea how their forests and oceans would be used by us far in the future, it’s pefectly ok not to know exactly how our re-stored carbon will be used. We can be sure though, that its alot better stored safely than scattered loosely throughout the biosphere.
A Millennium Road
Ecobricking done properly is a way to sequester plastic– to put it on a pathway that keeps it from getting loose into the biosphere over at least the next thousand years.
Authenticated Ecobrick Sequestered plastic serves as the foundation of the Brikcoin currency through the valuable ecological service that it represents.
Ecobrick & Brikcoin White Paper
Go deep into the science, ethos, and vision behind our Brikcoin Manual Blockchain and AES Plastic.
