Plenitud Puerto Rico
Over a thousand miles away from Puerto Rico, Paula Paoli Garrido and Owen Ingley met at the University of Florida as students in 2001. When Garrido decided to travel back to Puerto Rico, Owen joined her, and over time, the two of them founded Plenitud Puerto Rico. The project stemmed from a vision of creating a program that helped the local community be more self-sustaining. Establishing the organization took time and dedication, in which the couple had to secure a farm as a home base and gather the knowledge needed to effectively serve the community in the way they intended to.
Today, Plenitud PR operates on a 15-acre educational farm in the western mountains of Las Marías, Puerto Rico. Here they offer workshops and three skill-focused programs in bio-construction, ecological agriculture, and water security. However, the scope of this organization goes further than these workshops by providing meals to the elderly with its Amo Mis Abusinitiative, as well as a community center in collaboration with the Las Marías Municipality. At this center, named La Cancha, Plenitud PR uses the space as a resiliency hub during emergencies. Those in the community can find solace at La Cancha, where essential services are provided, such as drinkable rainwater, food, and solar electricity.
Plenitud PR hopes to be an example of global change and actively works towards reconnecting with nature during a time when most of the world's population is disconnected from it. "Our work is centered in Puerto Rico, though we aspire to be a model of global change as we all face unprecedented challenges caused by the climate crisis as well as social and economic inequality." - SuperAdobe Homes For Hurricane Resistance
Additional work at Plenitud PR is its sustainable home construction project. The team develops buildings and homes from clay-rich soil mixed with straw. On the Plenitud PR website, the organization shares that Puerto Rico is in a long-term housing crisis. The ongoing issue has materialized from a collection of circumstances, including economic challenges, lack of land ownership, and extreme weather conditions. It's estimated that 2,535 people are without homes, and around 2,599 homes are still under reconstruction after Hurricane María hit in 2017. [1]
With environmentalism and self-reliance as the backbone of the organization, Plenitud PR was determined to go after the education needed to master bioconstruction with adobe. The founders took construction courses in California and met with specialists in the early stages of their journey. As a result, most structures on the Plenitud PR farm are built from SuperAdobe, which can resist fire, withstand hurricanes, and is overall climate-resilient housing. During Hurricane Maria, three SuperAdobe homes were used as a demonstration, and none suffered any damage from the hurricane. [2]
With a rubble-trench foundation, the homes are built using shovels, water, cement, and long tube-shaped "earthbags" that are coiled into a dome structure that serves as the bones of the home. There is also barbed wire incorporated into the building that allows it to be earthquake-resistant. From there, the structure is covered in a dirt mixture. The dirt is sourced from a local quarry, which is usually excess material that's unusable for cement. At Plenitud PR, the dirt gets a new purpose in these hand-constructed SuperAdobe homes. Beyond their sustainable nature, SuperAdobe homes are cheaper and easier to build than concrete houses. The organization has trained more than 300 people to build SuperAdobe houses, and this year they plan to construct the first permitted large building made from SuperAdobe in Puerto Rico, which will be a five-unit apartment building.