Thursday, February 19, 2009

Buddhist temple made from a million beer bottles


Above: Sometimes known as Wat Lan Kuad, or Temple Of A Million Bottles, the temple uses the discarded bottles to construct everything from the crematorium to the toilets.


Above: The monks at Wat Lan Kuad said, "Even though drinking is a sin in Buddhism, this still seems like a positive use of beer and lager bottles."


Above: Abbot San Kataboonyo said: "The more bottles we get, the more buildings we make."


Reclaimed item of the week


The Buddhist monks began collecting bottles in 1984 and they collected so many that they decided to use them as a building material.

They encouraged the local authorities to send them more and they have now created a complex of around 20 buildings using the beer bottles, comprising the main temple over a lake, crematorium, prayer rooms, a hall, water tower, tourist bathrooms and several small bungalows raised off the ground which serve as monks quarters.

Altogether there are about 1.5 million recycled bottles in the temple, and the monks at the temple are intending to reuse even more.

The monks are so eco-friendly that the mosaics of Buddha are created with recycled beer bottle caps.

The DailyMail


The Telegraph

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