2009 Environment Award Laureate
GRUPEDSAC: Ecotechniques Toolkits for Self-Sufficiency
| Laureate Country: Mexico |
| Project Countries: Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean |
| Website: www.grupedsac.org |
Grupo para Promover la Educacion y el Desarrollo Sustentable, or GRUPEDSAC, under the leadership of Margarita Barney, has developed an eco-techniques toolkit that improves the living conditions in rural communities.
Mexico is considered to be a middle-income country and an emerging market, yet out of a rural population of 24 million, 56% live below the poverty line.
GRUPEDSAC's toolkits include a variety of appropriate technologies that improve quality of rural life and environmental sustainability. Among the tools in the kits are cisterns for rainwater harvesting, prickly pear natural paint and waterproofing resin, a solar dehydrator, a solar water heater, a wood-saving stove, a wind/solar generator, a rope pump, an electricity generator bicycle, a solar oven, biogas digestors, biointensive agriculture, and natural building technologies. With guidance and hands on eco-training from GRUPEDESAC, communities learn to become self-sufficient in water, food, shelter and energy, through projects which earn them money, and also preserve the environment.
