Hogares Sostenibles was a design summit in Sololá, Guatemala, focused on enhancing current houses into sustainable homes, through the design of low-cost technologies.
The Sanitation team focused on toilets: many homes lack access to water and proper sanitation. Of the 1,000 households in Santa Catarina, only 200 are currently linked to a sewage treatment plant, resulting in many others polluting the nearby Lake Atitlán. Ecosan is an educational prototype, equipped with a two-compartment dry toilet. This allows for solid and liquid waste to be separated, and the solid waste can potentially be used as fertilizer. The design also includes a water catchment system that collects rainfall for hand washing in an enclosed container. Properly sorting and managing the waste can reduce contamination of local water sources and household land.
