True to the Buddhist tenant of being mindful, in 1984 the Sisaket Monks decided to do something about cleaning up their environment which were constantly filled with litter. They launched the “100 beer bottles on the wall challenge” encouraging homeowners and businesses to donate their empty beer bottles, a material that they would then use to create Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew also known as the “ Temple of a Million Bottles”.
Green Heineken and Brown Singha, beer bottles were integrated into the concrete walls, roof and spires to create spellbinding patterns. Small Red Bull bottles were also used to create cross hatch patterns and beer bottle bottoms were used to create a mosaic on the floors. The monks even repurposed the bottle caps, incorporating them in the mesmerizingly beautiful Buddha mural.
The project has since gained such momentum that by 2009 some 20 other buildings were added to the project, making this one the world’s most sustainable eco-friendly builds of our time.
