Photo: Emily Mkrtichian | UNDP Mexico
Millions of tons of sargassum wash up on beaches in Mexico every year and hotels pay millions to have it removed. Since 2018, Omar Vasquez has been turning it into bricks and building houses that can resist hurricanes. He has built 40 houses, selling 20 and giving away 15 to low income families. After living in the US for 30 years with his mother, he returned to Mexico in 2014 with just $55 in his pocket and started a business selling plants. It did well enough that he could buy a lot and build his workshop. Now he has six full-time employees. With a single machine, he can make up to 3,000 blocks per day and he's designing a bigger machine that could produce 8,000 blocks per day. He's exploring licensing the blocks, given the international interest they've attracted and the fact that sargassum is spreading on North American beaches.
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