Calculate Your Impact

The Red Ceramics Association is an alliance of family-owned brick-making businesses located in the Bolivian Altiplano. Red bricks— made of local red sandstone and used in homes and other small structures— have been produced in this region for over 100 years. Traditionally, Bolivian brick makers used a dangerous mixture of oil, firewood and sawdust to fuel their brick ovens, a process that creates noxious fumes inhaled by workers twelve hours a day. Beginning in 2000, the Red Ceramics businesses switched to natural gas, a cleaner and more modern source of energy. Brick makers are no longer breathing dirty fumes and households have access to natural gas for cooking and other needs.

The Need

In 1998, the Government of Bolivia passed regulations prohibiting the use of the oil-sawdust-wood mixture.  Because it was the only fuel available in the area, however, these regulations threatened to put the brick makers out of business. While masters at their craft, most brick manufacturers have few other skills and are wholly dependent upon the brick making business for their livelihoods. It was at this point that Red Ceramics partnered with E+Co in seeking a solution. While it was clearly understood that natural gas would be a cleaner, healthier and cheaper way to power the Red Ceramics kilns, the remote mountain locations of the kilns were not connected to an existing gas pipeline.

E+Co Value Added

To solve this problem, E+Co provided a $202,160 loan for the extension of a natural gas pipeline from La Paz to Alpacoma. E+Co additionally assisted the members of Red Ceramics in gaining ownership rights to the land where their kilns are located. The loan has had many positive effects.  In 2007, through E+Co’s Erase Your Footprint program, a private donor purchased 575 tons of carbon dioxide offsets generated by the displacement of firewood and lubrication oil in the Red Ceramics brick ovens. The proceeds of the sale went directly to the Association. The Association has repaid its E+Co loan.