EL PASO — The Green Temple, built by students from the Environmental Advocates, American Students of Civil Engineering, volunteers and Special Events staff for Earth Week, took 400 hours to complete.
Forty thousand plastic bottles were collected from UTEP, New Mexico State University and community members over the span of one week.
The Bhutanese inspired temple was built with 20,000 of the collected bottles at the Don Haskins Center and transported in four large pieces to the second floor of Union Building East.
Ralph Rivera, vice president of the Environmental Advocates, said arrangements are being made for the remaining collected bottles and Green Temple to be recycled at the end of Earth Week.
He said he hopes people will begin to purchase reusable water bottles instead of disposable ones.
Filmed and produced by Elida Perez especially for The Prospector and Borderzine.com
