One Million Beer Bottles Later and it’s a Buddhist Temple

192 by Doug Gunzelmann on October 24, 2008

recycled bottle temple
Thai monks from the Sisaket province have used over one million recycled glass bottle to construct their Buddhist temple. Mindfulness is at the center of the Buddhist discipline and the dedication and thoughtfulness required to build everything from the toilets to their crematorium from recycled bottles shows what creativity and elbow grease can accomplish.

The Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew temple is about 400 miles northeast of Bangkok in the city of Khun Han close to the Cambodian border. Using Heineken bottles (green) and Chang Beer bottles (brown) the monks were able to clean up the local pollution and create a useful structure that will be a visual reminder to the scope of pollution and the potential we can make with limber minds.

bottle temple

The water tower and tourist bathrooms are even made from beer bottle litter. The monks were able to have the local people bring them the building materials which beautifully reflect the Thai sun.

beer bottle temple

Check out the Temple gallery on the next page...

Pages: 1 2

Category: Architecture, Home+Decor, Travel | Tags: beer, bottles, building, materials, recycle, temple

About the Author:

Doug is in perpetual motion and a self-proclaimed adventure junkie, that has had a longtime love affair with the great outdoors.

“I love being a part of the active world. The stuff that blows my hair back is adventure (all shapes and sizes), photography, mountaineering, Muay Thai, and seeing natural beauty in all its forms. The living earth is the framework on which I build my life and free time. My ideal trip would be BASE jumping at Sotano de Las Golandrinas in Mexico (closest I could come to skydiving through the jungle!). I work towards keeping it real, green, and healthy. ”

Doug is the co-founder of LiveOAK, although he says he didn’t know what a blog was until a couple months after he started.

Follow Doug Gunzelmann on Twitter: @amazonpilgrim

http://www.journeytobecoming.blogspot.com The Seeker

Love it! I hope you don’t mind if I reference your post on my blog today.

http://www.puen.in.th หาเพื่อน

Love it! I hope you don’t mind if I reference your post on my blog today. Thanks for this information. well done

http://revnyou.wordpress.com/2008/09/16/top-7-websites-and-blogs-read-by-this-broad/ julie

This is absolutely fantastic. Thank you for sharing this. I tried to stumble the photo but it was too large so I just gave you a giant thumbs up.

http://www.denono.com เกมส์ออนไลน์

How wonderful! Not only is it \green\, but a beautiful spiritual expres

http://www.squidoo.com/servals cchiovitti

How wonderful! Not only is it \green\, but a beautiful spiritual expression as well, thank you for blogging this.
RubyRobin56

This is an absolutely wonderful example of what we can with recycling!
To make another point…. most of the building material was FREE!
Kudos~ Well Done.
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http://www.analyzedmarketing.com Mark Garland

Incredible! This is a perfect example of creativity with an environmental outlook!

http://www.onesanook.com รูปสาวสวย ดารา

This is an absolutely wonderful example of what we can with recycling!
To make another point…. most of the building materia

francisonline

no………!!!!………….astounding!
RichInRI

i’m sorry, but i was wondering how many hangovers it took to generate those 1 million beer bottles…
http://www.myspace.com/honestjohn GMIK

this is really cool. they should make a massive temple out of old tires too.
http://www.myspace.com/honestjohn GMIK

and in response to Richinri: i figure people drink between 1 and 12 beers on average so my estimate would be in the range of 166666.66666666666666666666666667 hangovers give or take.
http://www.galindorf.com Galindorf

take one down, pass it around…
Cynthia Perry

The textural effect of basketry is wonderful when the bottles are mortored in on the surface in the alternating pattern..
The bottle path is fabulous,I have been building with bottles for my art studio built of recyled materials.The bottles were used in the floor as well in the walls. The bottles are made into light shafts like a glass brick,only the shape is determined by the shape of the bottle. The light cast from these walls is spiritual indeed, part of the reason it is called Spirit Art Studios. Would like to see more pictures of this and see if the monks used the light shaft idea? Building with bottles is a wonderful green method and has been done in many parts of the world. Wish I had a crew to build with like this.CP

http://Website(optional) Lydia

To Cynthia Perry: I would love to see these bottle shafts!! I want to make a light-exuding wall out of the little coke bottles.

Lkgnyc2 at gmail

http://www.budhvani.blogspot.com prabhat

unbelievable !
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Gwawdiwr

It’s very nice, but it isn’t particularly ‘green’. From a carbon footprint point of view, the best thing to do with those bottles is to reuse them as bottles. The next best thing to do with them is recycle them as cullet.
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http://www.blackstarsecurity.com Ty

Very very cool idea. Would love to own a house made from bottles….i wonder what the breaking strain of a bottle is..

Stoney

Can’t say anything about the breaking strain of a glass bottle. However, Calico Ghost Town {Barstow, Calif.} has a miner’s house which was made out of glass bottles. It is over 100 years old.

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http://search4beauty.blogspot.com Erik Kuykendall

One of the coolest things I have seen. Here’s to recycling and sustainable living!!!
DanielE.TNGuy

I always thought that most Buddhist monks weren’t allowed to touch alcohol, but never mind. This is a very innovative use of ” Dead soldiers “.But how difficult would it be to maintain, keep cooled, heated, etc. ?

Just curious.

Mike E

Actually the way the bottles work with the mortar and such the sealed bottles will make a natural insulation, one due to the over all thickness of the wall, and if things were done right with the proper amount of support along with the bottle walls and such, the whole structure should be well insulated and sturdy.

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http://www.sizzlecreative.co.uk Sizzle Creative

Absolutely amazing
Manie K.

I do respect and thanks from the comment cause I am in Thailand.
Gemma

This is wonderful and amazing. But would have liked to see it done with sauce bottles instead of beer bottles. As one of the precepts Buddha taught is “Abstain from taking any intoxicants”. And using beer bottles to build a Buddhist temple kind of contradicts the basic foundation of Buddha’s moral code.
flippetyjibbet

In response to DanielE.TNGuy. The monks don’t drink, they collected those empty bottles. So it’s a recycling and clean up project in one. Also, living in Thailand, I don’t think they need to worry about heating. And judging from interior photos.. I suppose it’s cool enough on the inside.
Joshua

What happens if one breaks?????
Bruce

If there is ever an earthquake he is sooooooooo dead. Powned by bottles, lol. bad way to go
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http://pages.intnet.mu/shivshantydham Poojanun Namah

What is the speciality of the temple ? Does it stop others from taking alcoholic drinks.I want a sacred help.
Cynthia Fuertes

I write for Club Platino Magaine in Mexico City and i just love your photos please contact me i´ll be very pleased on use it and of course i will give you the credits and a copy of the magazine when as soon as it runs.
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