Despite having had to reroute our travels, which meant that we had to cut our time in Quito very short and just use the airport as a transit point, we actually ended up thoroughly enjoying our time in Guayaquil. In Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest commercial and economic hub, we were privileged to get an insight into SAMBITO, an environmental consultancy firm.
This was very interesting for us, as we got to witness positive environmental changes and actions being brainstormed, planned and then finally, implemented. The areas we were exposed to were varied and diverse, ranging from understanding the implications of circular economy, getting an insight on how large businesses and co-operations carbon-off set their emissions, understanding how water treatment plants work, learning about the challenges and opportunities that setting up a sustainable village from scratch pose and the list could go on and on...
One project that we found very interesting was Seginus (https://seginus.com.ec/). Seginus is a multifaceted tire recycling program and so very much up our alley. We were also introduced to the Latin American Green Awards (Premios Latinoamérica Verde). You can check out more about this award under: https://premioslatinoamericaverde.com/ This is a great award, which is run by SAMBITO on an annual basis. Different individuals, initiatives and projects that must all be based in Latin America apply under one or more of the Sustainable Development Goals. After a competitive application process, the top 30 projects get to come together at the Guayaquil Convention Centre for a 5-day conference each August. This is a golden opportunity for networking, partnerships and sharing knowledge and ideas between like-minded individuals. 2019 saw about 2000 applicants, but they are hoping to crack the 3000 mark next year. This is quite impressive as this scheme has only been running for a couple of years!
Given that it was a series of different connections that brought us here, we are increasingly realising the importance and benefit of being well networked. Essentially, that is also what we are trying to do- build a network where plastic solutions are shared and explored together. The true power of connections, networking and sharing ideas is slowly beginning to unwrap itself to us!