Latin America Focus: Mexico makes renewable bricks from cactuses

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Now to Mexico, a country in constant search of new renewable technologies. It is now re-inventing one of the most frequently used building materials, bricks. Alasdair Baverstock explains.

The prickly pear cactus, abundant, emblematic and highly versatile. In Mexico, it's featured on the national flag. It's eaten. It's used in indigenous medicines. And now, in the rural state of Michoacan, it's being used to build houses. The prickly pear bricks are the brainchild of materials engineer Javier Guillen.

JAVIER GUILLEN MATERIALS ENGINEER "Thinking about the problem of climate change, and of all the problems caused by the manufacture of traditional bricks, I wanted to design a material similar to adobe, but which would not burn, which would be resistant to temperature changes, and also resist seismic shocks, which occur here."

Using the sap harvested from the fleshy cactus, Javier creates a bio-polymer, which he uses to bind crushed trash with soil to mold his bricks, which are then baked in the sun. The result is a brick that Javier says is sixty percent stronger than a traditional one.

ALASDAIR BAVERSTOCK MEXICO CITY "Building materials are expensive in Mexico, and for many residents of rural Michoac, too costly to build homes that meet even basic building permit requirements. Yet, bricks made from the prickly pear cactus are both renewable and inexpensive, offering better living opportunities for the most marginalized."

Created in the homelands of the Purepecha indigenous people, Javier's colleagues believe his invention can revolutionize local construction.

MARTIN VEGAS BIOMATERIAL ENGINEER "Many people think that science is far too complicated, when, actually, science is there to help us improve and simplify our own lives. So, even if a person has little money or resources, they can still access this sort of technology and improve their own sustainability."

The bricks are still prototypes, but Javier has already built a house using them, his own house.

JAVIER GUILLEN MATERIALS ENGINEER "As investigators, we have to spread the fact that alternatives exist which as a society we have to employ to combat climate change. Come to this house, spend a night, and experience the peace and quiet here!"

Javier is convinced he'll see prickly pear bricks on building sites soon. With an organic cement also in development, he believes these sustainable bricks will improve lives and the environment. Alasdair Baverstock, CGTN, Michoacan.