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Name: Building with Basura

Location: San Pedro, Guatemala

Project Start Date: April 2010

ABOVE: Students

removing rubbish

from the burning

pile to make eco-

ladrillos; LEFT:

Francisco from

COFETARN de-

monstrating the

eco-ladrillo techni-

que; TOP RIGHT:

Corrina with stu-

dents from Piedra

Grande, discussing the 5 R’s of waste reduc-

tion; BOTTOM RIGHT: Students from San Jose Caben with their completed eco-ladrillo.

Getting the youth involved! During the last few

months, the members of

COFETARN have worked

to identify a site that will

be used as a demonstra-

tion for the eco-ladrillo

project that Seres is run-

ning with them. Using

eco-ladrillos – “bricks”

made from recycled plas-

tic PET bottles filled with

rubbish – we will be

building a community nursery in the Aldea of San Andrés Chapil.

Aside from providing a nursery for reforestation of the surrounding

community, the bodega will also be used as a demonstration site for

showcasing the potential opportunities

available for building with recycled mate-

rials.

With a site and project identified, the next

step was materials – by our calculations,

over 3,500 eco-ladrillos will be needed to

build the bodega. Considering that in our

household (albeit a low rubbish-

producing household), it takes us over 2

weeks to fill one eco-ladrillo it was clear

that we were going to need help.

Taking it to the youth...

During the last 2 days of August, we worked

side-by-side with our friends from COFE-

TARN in an ambitious program to cover 5

schools in the area – with 16 workshops to

more than 500 students – to present the project and involve the stu-

dents in helping us to make eco-ladrillos. Enthusiastic and energetic,

the students of San Jose Caben, Aldea Chamac Procopio Chaves, Pie-

dra Grande, San Andres Chapil and Instituto de Chamac committed to

helping us build the nursery, and work towards our vision of creating

a San Pedro Verde!

Project Update September 2010

COFETARN, San Pedro Guatemala

Something worth celebrating...Something worth celebrating...Something worth celebrating...Something worth celebrating...

This project will remove over This project will remove over This project will remove over This project will remove over 3,500 recycled plastic bottles 3,500 recycled plastic bottles 3,500 recycled plastic bottles 3,500 recycled plastic bottles and more than 525,000 plas-and more than 525,000 plas-and more than 525,000 plas-and more than 525,000 plas-tic bags from the streets and tic bags from the streets and tic bags from the streets and tic bags from the streets and rivers of San Pedro...figures rivers of San Pedro...figures rivers of San Pedro...figures rivers of San Pedro...figures

that elicited an that elicited an that elicited an that elicited an ovation from ovation from ovation from ovation from the students !the students !the students !the students !

Biodigestors—the first of many? For those not familiar with the concept, a Biodigestor is a simple tech-

nology that uses an oxygen-free process to convert waste products

(usually animal excrement) into methane gas that can then be used

for a variety of purposes—most commonly cooking. Biodigestors are

a great opportunity for sustainable development in rural communities

here, where most households have animals, and rely on wood stoves

and propane gas for cooking. The installation of a demonstration Bio-

digestor in the community of Papaturro was Antonio’s idea (the foun-

der of the youth group), and Seres enthusiastically agreed to help

with the design, community education and installation.

For three days, we worked in the heat and mud alongside three volun-

teers from the youth environment group—excavating the 5m x 70cm

x 65cm hole that would house the “salchicha” Biodigestor (so named

because of its resemblance to a sausage). It was a great opportunity

to better get to know these youth. While our bodies were occupied

with manual work, we had plenty of time to talk, providing the perfect

opportunity to start working one-on-one with these youth on their

“Sustainability Pathways”: helping them to feel empowered about

their own personal journey and direction forward to bring about sus-

tainable change in their lives.

Project Update September 2010

Comité Ecológico Jóvenes en Lucha del Papaturro Suchitoto, El Salvador

A Refreshing Burst of InspirationA Refreshing Burst of InspirationA Refreshing Burst of InspirationA Refreshing Burst of Inspiration

The Project Grows...

Over lunch on the final day, our volun-

teers started to tell me about other peo-

ple in the community that had seen us

working on the Biodigestor and were now

interested in building one themselves. As

more and more names got mentioned, it

became clear that we had the beginnings

of a project on our hands: with three

young men now trained and experienced

in the design and installation of this tech-

nology. We are still working out the de-

tails of this project, so stay tuned to hear

further updates as it develops!

Youth Leading El Sal-vador!

It wasn’t just the Youth Group with

exciting news to share on this visit.

We too came with an announcement:

the launch of Youth Lead Central

America—a collaboration between

Seres and our Australian partners

OzGREEN to bring together youth

from around the world to share their

stories on leading change towards a

sustainable future. The congress will

be held 23rd—25th of November

2010. We will be announcing more

details in the coming weeks through

our website, so stay tuned!

TOP: Corrina and Andy installing the entrance while Antonio and Julio work on the exit. CENTRE: Taking a break while the Biodigestor fills to discuss Sustainability Pathways; BOTTOM: Corrina with Andy, Julio and Antonio—volunteers from the Youth Group—discussing the Biodigestor design

TOP RIGHT: Corrina

2

A great idea finally comes together Ever since the first day when I pulled my reus-

able silk shopping bag out in the busy mar-

ketplace in Antigua and heard the gasps of

the women vendors as I filled it with fruits and

vegetables, I have had it on my to-do list: to

find a way to promote this simple concept

amongst Guatemalan towns and work to re-

duce the huge quantity of plastic bags used

here that are inevitably end up choking the

rivers or being burnt on the streets. After my

last visit around the highlands of Tajumulco

and visiting the homes of the traditional

weavers (see blog Where the Wild Things Are),

an idea began to form. For the last month, I

have worked closely with this weaver’s co-op

on just this idea: developing a small, fold-

away shopping bag made using hand-woven

fabric from the Mayan Mam artisans of the

Tajumulco region.

Our recent school workshops with eco-ladrillos presented the perfect

opportunity to launch this product. Working through the concept of the

5 R’s, the last – RECHAZAR (Reject) – kept getting puzzled looks from

the students. “How can we use

this concept – RECHAZAR – to

reduce the amount of rubbish

we create?” I would ask. And

while the students looked at

each other, I once again pulled

out the re-usable shopping

bags. To the same impressed

gasps of the women market-

vendors, I demonstrated the

bag. Only this time, it wasn’t

just a demonstration. Introduc-

ing Herminio—representative

from the artists co-op—we

showed the students the new bags: 100% hand-made in San Pedro.

Judging from their reactions, it is a product that definitely has a market

here. And the best thing—the first bags will be used as a prize to the

students that make us the most eco-ladrillos!

More Biodigestors August must be the month of biodi-

gestors, as we prepare a new demon-

stration Biodigestor project on the

farm of one of the members of COFE-

TARN—our community partners.

Don Juan—the energetic and enthusi-

astic member of COFETARN from Fun-

dación Solar—has dreamed of having

a Biodigestor for his family for years.

And that dream is soon to be realized.

Offering his farm as a demonstration

site for rural communities to see the

opportunities that Biodigestor tech-

nology can offer, we have spent the

last few weeks designing and planning

for the installation.

The design: a low-cost salchicha Biodi-

gestor—”for the first one” quips Don

Juan with a smile, who has plans to

install a number of different de-

signs...if he can find enough cow poo!

The Biodigestor will be installed in the

last week of this month.

ABOVE: Don Juan demonstrating a recycled

tire Retailing wall on his farm; TOP LEFT:

Herminio with the new reusable Shopping

bags; BOTTOM RIGHT: Corrina demonstra-

ting the re-usable Shopping bag with students

from Piedra Grande;

Project Update September 2010

COFETARN, San Pedro Guatemala

Something worth celebrating...Something worth celebrating...Something worth celebrating...Something worth celebrating...