A building made of tires and glass and plastic bottles, off the grid and non-polluting: a village in Uruguay is home to a fully sustainable school -- and a bold experiment in green citizenship. On a winter morning in the southern hemisphere, the temperature is 7.5 degrees Celsius in Jaureguiberry, a tiny community of 500 inhabitants an hour's drive east of the capital Montevideo. But inside primary school number 294, which opened a few months ago, the air easily rises to a mild 20 degrees. "We are doing fine, with a more than 50 percent charge only from solar energy," said Alicia Alvarez, 51, the school's director, pointing to energy storage units. "I turned the light down a little so as not to waste it," she said.
Opened last March to children between the ages of three and 12, it claims to be the first public school in Latin America that is totally green. The school is not connected to the national electricity grid. From the outside, its environmental bona fides are evident: colorful recycled tires at the entrance, solar panels covering its roofs, big windows overlooking kitchen gardens.
Behind the project is the US architect Michael Reynolds, 70, known as the "garbage warrior" for his long career in building self-sufficient projects with discarded products. Reynolds developed what he calls "Earthship Biotecture" -- buildings designed to independently sustain human life. He has built "Earthships" all over the world, from New Mexico and Easter Island in Chile to Ushuaia in Argentina and Sierra Leone -- though he has faced naysayers along the way. "People called me an idiot: building with garbage, what a fool, you're a disgrace to the architectural community," he said. "
In Jaureguiberry, about 2,000 tires, 3,000 glass bottles, 1,500 plastic bottles and 12,000 cans were put together with wood, glass and cement to fashion the new school. Though it can accommodate 100 students, for now the school has 39, with a wide range in ages. Some are just starting out in preschool and others are in their final year before university. All of them are excited to be in a school so unique and close to nature.
In the class led by teacher Rita Montans, 45, the students are participating in a workshop of creative writing and brainstorming on the theme of environmental protection. Each offers a proposal. "Don't throw away trash." "Protect plants." "Don't throw out bottles." "If there weren't any trees, we'd no longer be there," declared seven-year-old Sebastian.
The aim, according to the teacher, is to create a code of conduct to follow. "Green crosses" are awarded for good practices.The school is a good example: It produces no waste and, across from the three classrooms, the compost-fed kitchen garden brims with basil, tomatoes, strawberries and chard. On the roof, rainwater is collected then filtered before it is used in the garden or the toilets. The teachers have special training so they can adapt their courses by tying them to respect for the environment and the responsible use of the building and its energy.
Once a week, the children devote an hour to the garden, picking fruits and vegetables that they have planted and raised, and which they will eat in the canteen. "There is no better learning than to experience things for yourself," said Alvarez, the director. No matter how these students apply their lessons in the future, one way or another, "the seed is already planted", she said.
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This story in 30 seconds
• Jaureguiberry outside Montevideo, Uruguay, is a village that has the first public school in Latin America that is totally green
• The school is not connected to the national electricity grid.
• From the outside, its environmental bona fides are evident: colorful recycled tires at the entrance, solar panels covering its roofs, big windows overlooking kitchen gardens
• Behind the project is the US architect Michael Reynolds, 70, known as the "garbage warrior" for his long career in building self-sufficient projects with discarded products
• About 2,000 tires, 3,000 glass bottles, 1,500 plastic bottles and 12,000 cans were put together with wood, glass and cement to fashion the new school
• It produces no waste and, across from the three classrooms, the compost-fed kitchen garden brims with basil, tomatoes, strawberries and chard. On the roof, rainwater is collected then filtered before it is used in the garden or the toilets
