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Behind many success stories is a long road of effort, sacrifice, and setbacks. Whether they come from humble beginnings or have faced obstacles along the way, those who achieve their goals share a common trait: the persistence to keep going when the path gets hard.
That’s the case in Dóris Dias and Robson Lopes’ story, a Brazilian couple who, after losing their income and being unable to pay rent, found a cheap solution by building their own home with thousands of recycled glass bottles.
The story of the couple who built their home with hundreds of glass bottles
In April 2020, Dóris Dias and Robson Lopes, from Foz do Iguaçu, a city in southern Brazil, were going through a difficult time. Robson had lost his job at a supermarket, and Dóris, who worked as a social educator, could no longer work because of health problems.
The couple moved in with Doris’ parents for a while, but they wanted to be independent again without spending a lot of money. That’s when the idea struck them.
In their own wedding, back in September 2019, they had decorated the venue with recycled materials and discovered how useful glass bottles could be. They thought they could use those same techniques to build up their independence back.
The couple gathered more than 10,000 bottles in five months
According to what they told the Brazilian news site UOL, the couple began walking the streets of their city to collect bottles that others had thrown away. Soon, family members, friends, and neighbors started donating to them too.
For the outside walls they used mainly 600-milimeter bottles, about 20 ounces each, combined with cement and sand instead of traditional bricks. Then, smaller bottles went into the inside walls with other materials like iron to help support the structure.
In just five months they had used more than 10,000 bottles and built the walls of a house of about 750 square feet.
By then they had spent up to 3,000 Brazilian reais, but they still needed a roof, doors, and windows, so they started a fundraiser to keep going.
How did they expand the home four years later?
In June 2024, H2FOZ, a local Brazilian journal, reported that the house had grown about 915 square feet and the couple had already used 20,000 glass bottles. They had also installed water, electricity, and sewer connections.
The design already includes a main bedroom, two bathrooms, a kitchen open to the living room, a laundry room, and a garage.
Dóris said she hoped to open the house to visitors who want to see the project once it is complete.