Filipinos make bricks from volcano ash, plastic trash

Residents from the Philippine city of Binan are making use of the ash spewed from the Taal volcano to make eco-friendly bricks.

That's right. They have been collecting the fine gray ash that has been covering homes, cars and roads and sending it to a state-owned brick factory, where it has been mixed with sand, cement and discarded plastic to create around 5,000 bricks per day.

"Instead of just piling up the ashfall somewhere, we are able to turn it into something useful," said city environmental officer Rodelio Lee.

Officials say the bricks will be used to rebuild homes impacted by the Taal volcano.

The restive volcano, located on the island of Luzon, began spewing ash, gas and steam on January 12, with authorities warning that an eruption could happen anytime.