EcoBlocks

EcoBlocks is a social business that transforms waste plastic into life-changing household products for families in urban slums in India. I COULDN’T BELIEVE IT.

My name is Guy, and I’ve spent a lot of time in developing countries. I’ve lived in West Africa, South and Central America, and Eastern Europe, but I’ve spent by far the most time in the largest democracy in the world…India. When I lived there, I used to go on walks through slums. I’d usually go to play pickup cricket games with kids, practice my Hindi, and buy pre-made meals for the week from a w

oman named Ambaji. Her food was to die for, and you couldn’t beat the price. One day she told me about an expansion she was planning for her small house. As it was, her floor plan was no more than 10x20”, and her addition was barely 10x8”. She boasted that it would only cost about 80 dollars, and would be made out of thatch to keep cool in the desert heat. At least two months’ food for a bunch of grass. And she said that was the friend rate. AND, she’d have to change her roof after a year or two. I asked her, why not metal? She told me it was more expensive, got too hot under the sun, and was deafening under rain. Clay and cement bricks were too expensive too, and broke easily. That conversation stuck with me, I couldn’t stop thinking that there must be a better, more affordable solution. It seemed too obvious, walking through the Indian streets alongside heaps of plastic waste, I thought, why not this stuff? Plastic is cheap, waterproof, lightweight, a good insulator, and virtually indestructible. I thought, why hasn’t this been done before?? After much searching, I found out it had, by a man named Amos Kambagira, in Uganda. You can see his video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7oUk10rKjE. After seeing this video, I contacted Amos, who is now an advisor for EcoBlocks. He inspired me to take this innovation to slums, along with a philosophy that values local feedback in my design approach. I came to realize that by mixing plastic with sand and adding heat, we could make a composite paste that can be easily customized. We can make a roof tile which is cheap, quiet in the rain, cool in the summer, and extremely durable. By targeting the slum market, I can be close to the source for materials. Most slums are near a huge dump, and many slum residents make a living by collecting, sorting, and cleaning trash for recycling—even though middlemen take much of the profit. By setting up shop at the source, I can offer these guys an attractive wage and hire their neighbors to be my production, marketing, and sales teams. Best of all, the benefit goes to the neighborhood—we clean up the trash, provide jobs, and build products that save money and improve homes. This idea has massive potential because it is so simple. The only materials we need are plastic and sand. People will be able to afford to live better, and mountains of plastic can be converted into useful products with no negative environmental impact in the process. The beauty is that tiles are only the beginning. I am planning on building appliances that deliver clean water, biogas cooking, and solar energy systems that are affordable and designed specifically for slums. I already have the network and connections to make this a reality in Jaipur and beyond. It is my pleasure to invite you to join our movement to build something truly amazing. With your support, we can combat poverty and pollution at once, creating a first-of-its-kind model that has the potential to be a global revolution. Guy Liechty, Founder and CEO

10/01/2016

Truly proud to collaborate with Plastics for Change, a wonderful organization based in Bangalore with an innovative model that leverages Brands to create a demand for fair-trade plastic.

Hopefully in the not-so-distant future the plastic product you use every day will proudly claim to be made of fair-trade recycled plastic! No more virgin plastic is needed...we have enough already!

http://www.plasticsforchange.org/

03/11/2016

Nigeria. Tanzania. Equador. Nepal. Sri Lanka. Maldives. Kenya. Peru. Benin. Afghanistan...the list goes on of all of you who have interest in your countries and a true need for a way to make plastic a resource and not waste. I want to hear your stories and how you think, together we can make this work for you. Please, reach out to me! I want to find solutions with you. But since I cannot be in all these places, I need YOU for US to move forward!!

10/21/2015

So AWSOME!! Germany doesn't have enough trash, so they have to import. Talk about a good problem to have...
http://fortune.com/2015/10/20/germany-import-trash/

Germany's Latest Import: Trash One country's trash is another one's treasure.

Turning Waste Plastic into Affordable Roofing for Slums

06/13/2015

Alright guys, just one more week left with the campaign! It's been an amazing response, but we've still got a ways to go to reach 'Kriticalmass,' or else everything will be refunded.

Please like, share, donate, promote, forward, or otherwise convince your people to show their support!! If we can meet the target, we'll be operational in 2-3 months. Let's make this week count!

Turning Waste Plastic into Affordable Roofing for Slums This project will transform plastic trash into high-quality, affordable roofing for slums in India. Our model employs locals for trash collection, production, and marketing; improving lives with an innovative, eco-friendly product line.

06/12/2015

For those unfamiliar with roof tiles, the photo below is of Mangalore tiles (common in India, especially the south). Their advantage is being water proof yet allowing ventilation, without the requirement of screws or nails. This is an easy first design to use, since it's already widely adopted. The next photo shows how they hang and overlap.

I hope this shows how easily we can do this with plastic, and the right mold!

05/31/2015

I tried an experiment yesterday- I stacked a few pieces of trash at a corner in plain view, and added rocks to make sure the wind wouldn't blow them away. I wanted to see how long it would take before a trashpicker collected them. I looked outside every half hour, and within two hours they were gone.

Efficient work, but not a success story. The efficiency of the trashpicker system is directly correlated to the inefficiency, if not total failure, of the municipal government to operate as a service provider. One could argue that the gov't is providing income opportunities by neglecting waste collection, though trashpicking is nevertheless demeaning, dirty, and leads to health problems.

05/25/2015

Fun fact: using sand for construction materials here in Maharashtra, India, is ILLEGAL! Because there is so much fly-ash from coal power plants, that has to be used instead.

If we start here, why not use that instead of sand? If you know anything about the binding properties of fly ash, please contact me. Using this in our product would be a wonderful way to up-cycle two forms of waste instead of one.

ECO FRIENDLY Plastic & Sand Tiled Houses

05/25/2015

For anyone who is curious, this video shows the technology at work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7oUk10rKjE. The CEO is my technical adviser, a great mentor, and a Senior Minister of the Ugandan Ministry of Energy.

What I love so much about the system is: 1) High-density polymer gets harder as it cools, 2) no waste leaves the factory, and 3) there are harmful fumes during production.

Plastic is not going anywhere anytime soon. Unfortunately. But it's important to remember the immense R&D effort that went into it, as well as its good qualities. This WILL be the future of this stuff, the question is finding the right application.

ECO FRIENDLY Plastic & Sand Tiled Houses Plastic or ecologically friendly houses may soon be the way to go if the environment is to be saved. Some companies are using river sand and plastics to make...

05/12/2015

If you know me, you know I love the small house movement. Maybe that's why I'm working in slums. But this is no slum, only a few blocks from where I'm living, a house with 7 people in barely an 8x12 ft space.

Which brings me to the question, how much is privacy worth, and what does it get us? Corny to say it brings us together, or that we learn to live with what truly matters.

But how long can the global disparity last? Maybe this is the future, the only sustainable way to live, keeping in consideration the rising cost of infrastructure, basic amenities, and labor in the global south. How bad would it be to sleep in the same room with your siblings and grandmother?

While design might not be here in particular, I firmly believe that it can replace, or do better than, space itself.

The goal, after the roof tiles, is to build smarter homes where no one is cramped and no one is lonely.

05/07/2015

VERY interesting blog post from my cousin's good friend who's life and health were both directly affected from plastic. Plastic is an endocrine disruptor, and has detrimental effects on both women and men. I encourage everyone to read her story, and perhaps even give her experiment a try!

http://kindlingheatlh.blogspot.in/2015/05/plastics.html

Kindling Health: Plastics Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. Allergies. Fibromyalgia. Arthritis. IBS. Anxiety. Depression. Endometreosis. And more. I'm moving on with my life!

05/05/2015

A Call to Action from Ms Radhika Sharma, our implementation partner and the one who is making this all possible.

https://youtu.be/a38lD1y98Jw

Message from Ms. Radhika Sharma So glad to have the support and partnership of Radhika and her organization, Jeevan Ashram Sanstha (jeevanashramsanstha.org) behind us in our mission to prov...

04/29/2015

I was privileged enough to meet Mr. Sunil, a trashpicker who told me about the common difficulties. Once we have the funds, we will provide gloves, good boots, and masks to the people who are the only ones keeping this place clean. Respect for him and his.

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Telephone

+17202778309

Website

http://www.ecoblocks.org/

Address

Denver, CO
80209

EcoBlocks

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