“SargaBlocks” Turns Excess Sargassum into Affordable Homes
In 2018, sargassum began to wash up along Belize’s coast at a record rate. The brown, pungent seaweed has been bad for the tourism industry, as resort owners reported increased cancelations at the time. In 2023, the problem is back and scientists are projecting that this could be another record year for sargassum influx along the coasts. Already, Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker are conducting cleanup efforts. But in the midst of this natural phenomenon, one man has pioneered a solution to the problem. He is Mexican Omar Vasquez, the founder of SargaBlocks. Vasquez created a method to manufacture building blocks using sargassum. He has spent the last week in San Pedro meeting with Mayor Wally Nunez to discuss how his sargablocks can help to alleviate some of the island’s sargassum challenges. News Five’s Paul Lopez reports.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
Sargassum has been washing ashore along Belize’s coastline in large quantities since the start of the year, posing a threat to the local tourism product and the health of people. On Ambergris Caye, the San Pedro Town Council is spending five to ten thousand dollars weekly to keep the beaches as clean as possible.
Wally Nunez
Wally Nunez, Mayor, San Pedro Town
“We have had a lot of issue with the sargassum. It has been quite a task for the San Pedro Town Council. Since we started in the council we have been challenged with the sargassum. It is quite a challenge because we have had to use a lot of the resources here to be able to tackle it. It is quite a challenge, because the amount coming in has been a lot this year, so much that you have all the way to the end of the docks at times. And, the problem is that it feels like the guys are not doing anything, because you try to clean out and there is another amount coming in the afternoon and it just full up again.”
And the Town Council’s expense is in addition to what beachfront resorts on the island are also investing to carry out their own cleanup campaigns. Back in 2022, Einer Gomez the Resort Manager at Ramon’s Village told us about the economic toll that comes with ridding their beaches of sargassum.
Einer Gomez
Einer Gomez, Resort Manager, Ramon’s Village Resort (File: June 2, 2022)
“For us it has affected us more financially where we have had to hire more personnel to clean the sargassum. As you know our beach is our prime treasure and we need to keep it clean. Normally, when the sargassum is affecting the way it has been for the last month, we hire more people or we take people from other departments to help clean it up and we take truckloads out of the beach and make sure that the beach is kept clean.”
Disaster may be looming, as scientists are projecting that this is only the start of what has the potential to become a record-breaking year, in terms of the volume of sargassum that will wash up along the Florida Keys, Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and the Caribbean. And if those projections are correct, the clean, white, sandy beaches that are married to our crystal clear blue ocean will all be covered by a thick layer of brown, putrid seaweed in the summer.
Wally Nunez
“It is quite a task because it is like a never ending problem that we are facing. And, a lot of people they come to the island for the beach and most of them have to go to secret beach, because on the westside you don’t have any sargassum flowing. So, we get that the front side of the island which is affecting our tourism.”
But, where many see rot, decay and a health hazard, one man has found opportunity. Omar Vasquez is the owner of SargaBlock, based in Mexico. Vasquez has created a method to make building blocks from sargassum and it is a game changer. Around the world, he is known as Mr. Sargasso.
Omar “Mr. Sargasso” Vasquez
Omar “Mr. Sargasso” Vasquez, C.E.O., SargaBlock
“It just came to my roots, to my childhood. We grew up in a house made of adobe, with clay and things like that. I am from Mexico, Guadalajara, in a small town. So, my grandparents had a clay house. So, back in 2015 I started using sargassum. In 2018 we had the worst arrival in the entire history of the whole Caribbean. People didn’t know what to do with it. I am a gardener; I own a nursery so I started to start giving cleaning up service in 2018 for sargassum. 2015 I started making fertilizer, compost out of sargassum for my business. In 2018 they hired me to start cleaning up the business and it was really bad. I had a bad experience because some guy that works at the Mexican government he took away the job from me and three hundred people.”
Out of a contract, with three hundred employees under him, Vasquez would hit a low point in his life. During that time, he remembered the clay home that he grew up in with his mother Angelita. He then constructed the first sargablock house in the world which he named in honor of his late mother.
Omar “Mr. Sargasso” Vasquez
“You know what, they call me architect, engineer, I didn’t even finish high school to be honest with you. I learnt everything on the streets, but, just seeing neighbors, how they use to make bricks. I had never done any bricks in my life before. So, I am pretty sure that it was god that brought all this formulas and ideas in my head, because there is no other reason. I had alcohol and drug problem when I was a teenager. So, first thing I wanted to do was look out for guys like that to give them a second chance. So, we cleaned the beaches. I created work for people. Ninety percent of the people that work for us at Bluegreen, they use to have drug or alcohol problem or depression before. So, I hire them, we make the sargablock. We donate houses and at the last we sell them.”
Paul Lopez
“How durable is a sargablock when compared to a regular concrete block?”
Omar “Mr. Sargasso” Vasquez
“It is the same. We did some tests and everything and it could last at least a hundred and twenty years. you and I won’t be here to make sure it last that long, but a hundred and twenty years based on the tests we did.”
Paul Lopez
“Is it a cheaper product?”
Omar “Mr. Sargasso” Vasquez
“It is not only cheaper, it is acoustic proof. You don’t hear any noise on the outside. My wife is a singer so we are going to build this room that she can sing and record. Not only that, when it is too hot outside, the inside is cool air. It is about then to fifteen grades less than the outside.”
Vasquez has built and donated fourteen homes made from sargablocks in Mexico. His factory produces approximately thirty thousand sargablocks per month. Vasquez intends to build the first sargablock home in Belize for a needy family. With more and more sargassum washing ashore along Ambergris Caye, Mayor Nunez and Vasquez are partnering to renovate the town’s Central Park using sargablocks.
Wally Nunez
“It is part of our beautification project for the park which we want to change all these tents that are there for the food vendors and we want to place them in a nice uniformed casitas where they can sell the food and it is going to look a lot nicer. We want to have a shaded area where people can sit down and eat and also the small stage with a changing room. We are planning on doing this now out of sargablocks so that we can show the people that we can utilize this sargassum and turn it into something positive.”
According to Vasquez, while the Dominican Republic, Martinique and a number of other countries have expressed interest in his product, Belize is the first country outside of Mexico that will see this level of construction using sargablocks. Vasquez and his wife are preparing to fly to Japan to receive several awards for their work.
Omar “Mr. Sargasso” Vasquez
“In 2019 we won in Austria and Vienna and then Amsterdam too. Two months ago we won four awards in Japan. So, me and my wife are going to go to Japan. We got four awards, one is From the Sea to the Earth, the other one is Circular Economy, the other is Living Better, and the fourth is a special award that they only give Japanese people only once every five years.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.
