The “Silicon Valley of Circular Economy Innovators”. This is how a future eco-village in Ecuador is described. Its peculiarity? The houses are made from cocoa beans.
The waste from cocoa farming will be used for a very specific purpose. They will be used to create the “Cocoa Eco Village”, located in the city of Pedernales in northwestern Ecuador, more than 200 km from the capital Quito. An idea from the Italian architect Valentino Gareri, who designed buildings from recycled cocoa fibres, using a 3D printer.
This eco-village project is being carried out in collaboration with the chocolatier Muze and the Avanti association, founded by the Ecuadorian Carolina Pozo. A cocoa processing company is being set up there to “designing new ethical cocoa-based products, highly traceable, that offset the environmental footprint”† As the Avanti association explains on its website, the aim of this project is also to lift farmers and their families out of poverty by integrating them into the global cocoa supply chain.
The first global network of sustainable villages
The houses are built especially for local farmers and have colorful facades, a kind of nod to the fruits of cocoa trees, dotted with red, green, yellow and orange hues. These accommodations are completely ecologically designed and also have a roof to collect rainwater and natural ventilation.
Known for its lush beaches, the town of Pedernales is also home to the largest cocoa crops in Ecuador. The “Cocoa Eco Village” is presented as “the first in a global network of sustainable and smart villages, a carbon neutral destination and an innovation center for the circular economy”†
Construction work is expected to start in 2022.
(ETX Daily Up)