A novel idea for trash and a request

1After nearly two years of living in Guatemala as a Peace Corps volunteer, I've learned that I prefer social and environmental work over construction projects. That said, I've also seen the environmental damage trash causes in this part of the world. Here in San Carlos Sija, we burn our trash or throw it into a ravine. Neither option is good.

But finding an alternative for the trash is challenging. Recycling is largely restricted to the capital due to transport issues. I would love to establish a sanitary landfill, but it is extremely costly and requires teaching people to use it correctly and setting up and maintaining a trash collection system. Out of 334 municipalities in Guatemala, there are just one or two that have sanitary landfills. Some have trash collection, but then after collection simply throw it in a ravine, the river, or off the side of the road.

There is a solution that combines the need for both environmental projects and infrastructure projects: building with plastic bottles full of inorganic trash. It is something that has been implemented in various places throughout Guatemala. The idea was born with the NGO Pura Vida (http://www.puravidaatitlan.org/english.html), who named the bottles “eco-ladrillos” (eco-bricks).

I have personally participated in some of these construction projects and can tell you it clearly works. Last year, a PCV built a two-room school house with her community in Uspantan, el Quiche. I traveled to her site to learn about and help in the construction process. Wood is used for the frame, then the bottles are placed between chicken wire, and three layers of cement is spread on both sides of the wall to protect the bottles; the roof is corrugated tin. (See attached photo.) In the end, the school cost around $4,500 whereas the typical school out of concrete blocks costs approximately $18,750. (You can see the complete process in photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/sarahscott8/BottleSchoolInGuatemala.)

With these projects, there is the obvious benefit of cleaning up the community. Also, this style of construction meets needs with less expense and gets community members, from school children to grandparents, involved in the building process. I truly believe that in the proceeding years, we will see many more of these projects implemented, thus cleaning up the environment and saving money to be able to carry out more projects of a more diverse nature.

But for the people to truly believe it here, they need to see it. So before I finish my Peace Corps tenure in April, I want to implement this project in my site so that it will serve as an example to the rest of Sija and surrounding communities that trash construction can be done.

The community that we selected to work with was the one that showed the most dedication and commitment. The teachers of Las Cerezas approached me and my counterpart with their need: a fourth classroom to complement their three rooms in order to better serve the six grades. Since we talked with them four weeks ago, the community has filled more than 1000 bottles and is searching for more trash in other communities because “se acabó la basura” (there’s no more trash). We’ve estimated that they need about 3000 more bottles to build the classroom that they need. They also have committed to donating their time for all the labor involved in construction. The teachers have written a solicitation to a large cement company looking for their assistance. Thus, what we are asking for is help in buying the remaining materials. (The photo below is of where we will build the room.)

I would prefer not to ask for money from friends and family because it is not as sustainable as the community learning to solicit their own funds, but in this case I see an exception. Please consider donating to this project. Even a small contribution will go a long way. Approximately $1.75 will build one square foot of wall for the classroom, with a total cost for the room at $2830.

If you have any questions, just let me know! Thank you for taking the time to read this and hopefully support our project. If you decide to donate, you can send checks to:

Friends of Guatemala ● P.O. Box 33018 ● Washington, D.C. 20033

*IMPORTANT* Make sure to put on the memo line of the check: “Audrey Squires – Cat. II”, otherwise your donation will go to the general scholarship fund.

Thanks for your support and if you know anyone else that may be interested in contributing, please forward my request. It means a lot to me and to the community. We hope to start building in November!