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Philippines: A businessman built an urban farm by upcycling over 1000 plastic bottles

Take a look at his 240 square meter backyard farm, which Triviño and his helpers built in 30 days.

Triviño mainly cultivates loose leaf lettuce, but he also grows eggplant, okra, labanos, pechay, mustasa, sili, ube, and herbal plants.

By Vina Medenilla
Manila Bulletin
Aug 13, 2020

Excerpt:

He went to the supermarket, bought seeds, sowed the seeds in plastic bottles, and placed them in his then idle backyard. Instead of buying pots, he opted to upcycle old bottles, tires, and crates. “Since I owned the lot, I’m the one who designed and decided what and where to plant the seeds. For me, it’s my little project,” said the urban farmer. To maximize the space further, Triviño attached his bottle planters to the property wall. He also created racks out of bamboo where he laid other bottles.

From a cluttered storage area, their backyard is now a thriving urban farm. He started the project last April with the help of his drivers and helpers from his trucking business. Since his employees had no scheduled trips, Triviño thought of a way to retain their income through his farm project. “Sila na lang naging katulong ko para at least diretso ang kita nila. Mga kawayan na ginamit ko ay sa kanila ko din kinuha para lahat kumikita. May mga tanim yung mga driver ko na kawayan sa bukid nila, tutal malapit lang naman kaya kinuha ko na. (They became my help [in building the farm] so at least, they can get their income directly. The bamboo I used was from them too, so everyone is making money. Some of my drivers have bamboo trees on their farms nearby so I bought them.)”

Read the complete article here.