Seeing Ecuador’s rivers getting even more polluted and all the life in them dying is something that we have to prevent at all costs.

Juan David Alemán

Juan´s business idea was born in a coffee place in the heart of Berlin where everything, really everything was made out of reused or recycled material – from the floor covering to the cables to the door handle. In his home city Quito, the reuse of construction materials is not yet widely practiced. Ecuador’s growing economy is generating more and more landfills that have negative impacts on the environment, especially on rivers.

Juan’s online marketplace “CIRVE” promotes the exchange and commercialisation of used and left over building materials in Quito and Cuenca, be it through giving away, swapping, selling, or buying. Reusing existing material in a world of finite resources has not only positive impacts on the environment, it also creates income for those who sell things and allows those who buy them to save money. This aspect is particularly relevant in the construction industry since prices for building materials have recently risen sharply.

In Ecuador, we often use things and then dispose them elsewhere – untreated. This practice not only sacrifices our forests for new landfill sites but also takes away valuable public spaces that we need, like schools, parks, and hospitals.

Juan David Alemán