Rural Recycling
Our first project. March 2020.
Because
Villa Cerro Castillo is the last paved section of the Carretera Austral from the regional capital, and this connection transformed it into a gateway for mountain tourism and a haven for new residents. With them came an accumulation of waste that the town had no way to process.
What we build
Together with the Cerro Castillo Rural Bicentennial High School, we built the community's first collection center, Punto Limpio, with capacity for seven types of recyclable materials and designed pro bono by architect Tomás Rodríguez. Kyklos brought environmental education to the classrooms, the Municipality of Río Ibáñez financed the transport of the materials, Patagonia Sin Residuos managed them at the regional level, and Trek Relief provided the initial funding.
The launch and the pandemic
The program began in March 2020 with workshops at the school and a live broadcast on Radio Aluen. Days later, Chile declared a state of emergency. Environmental education continued remotely, via digital platforms and radio, reaching 143 people in its first year. 487 kilograms of material, primarily glass, were recovered.
What it left behind
Punto Limpio closed its doors after the pandemic. Its true legacy, however, was something else entirely: it demonstrated that a rural school, a municipality, a B Corp, a regional waste management company, and a foreign organization could work together, and that this trust could endure even in the most challenging year. A year later, building on that same trust, the first row of the Huerta Verde Esperanza (Green Garden of Hope) was sown.
Our contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Allies
Supporters
