Earth Day, Every Day  In recognition of Earth Day 2009, this is our second story in a series we are publishing throughout the month of April.

How barley dust is helping to build homes
in Argentina.

BAHIA BLANCA, Argentina – One of the more unusual innovations within Cargill is taking place in this city southeast of Buenos Aires Province. Cargill Argentina is taking an environmental headache — massive amounts of barley dust — and turning it into an outreach effort benefiting some of the neediest people in the community surrounding its malt plant.

Disposing of dust left over from the barley cleaning process without harming the environment can be costly. Could a use be found for it? That was the challenge issued by the Cargill Malt Argentina general manager to his innovation team.

Picking up a load of barley dust at a Cargill plant.

Replacing traditional ingredients, barley dust is mixed with clay.

The team lived up to its name: they had the idea that the dust might be useful for local brick makers.

Bricks are usually made of water, wood shavings, clay and sawdust. Couldn’t barley dust substitute for sawdust? The innovation team contacted a local brick maker, who found that the barley dust could effectively be used in place of both sawdust and wood shavings. He agreed to take the dust off Cargill’s hands, and Cargill agreed to give it away. 

That in itself would have been a great story of turning an environmental lemon into lemonade, but it gets better. It turns out the brick maker was affiliated with Caritas Argentina, one of the country’s leading charitable organizations. Caritas is now using the bricks to build houses to replace the flimsy, leaky tin sheds typical of Bahia Blanca’s poorer neighborhoods.

Straight from a mold, the bricks are laid out to dry in the sun.

Cargill is lending more than raw material to this effort. The company gave $36,000 to support the project. Cargill volunteers are helping with the construction of the homes, Habitat-for-Humanity style. So far, almost a dozen families are getting new homes. As the project has unfolded, it is starting to concentrate on needy people with health problems. “Argentine law says anyone who wants to have an organ transplant has to live in reasonably good physical surroundings (in order to have a reasonable chance to recover),” explained Cargill volunteer Martin Uhlig. “That means at least a small, standard house. Part of our resources are going to address this specific problem.”

Indeed, Cargill is building community, brick by brick.