Caldas Feliz – happy to live here
This concept should be a part of an overall strategy – EMPOWER THE PEOPLE of Caldas to take the destiny in their hands and build themselves a better life. This part concerns the improvement of their health and their environment.







The project “Caldas Feliz” strives to achieve an environment where people will be happy to live. The synergy between community, each single individual, government and investors leads toward healthier, more prosperous and less crime environment. An easy slogan “Caldas Feliz” should ensure identification of all stakeholders with a final goal.
In a short-term plan we wish to create a healthier environment and in the same move take the opportunity to improve the appearance of Caldas buildings. We expect that this will motivate both the single person and the Caldas community to strive for a better live.
1. Remove the health risk of asbestos roof
This part of the concept deals with the health issues related to the use of asbestos in the building roofs. It is known that the danger of asbestos is related to free volatile fibers which can enter our body, for instance through breathing. The process to remove asbestos from the roof is expensive and thus not practicable in Caldas. Therefore we suggested encapsulating asbestos with a film of (plastic based) material which would prevent asbestos fibers to be released in the air. This would allow removing the health hazard of asbestos for a very cheap price. This is possible to achieve through:
a. Recycled plastic, for instance PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) from beverage bottles.
PET is a valuable material that can easily be recycled in thin films with great insulating properties. We suggest collecting and use waste bottles to provide the raw material to encapsulate asbestos.
b. Paint. There are several industrial paintings already widely used to encapsulate asbestos. They can also provide a cheap alternative to removing asbestos from the roofs of Caldas. A good description of this paintings can also be found in the concept of Laci Videmsky http://www.openideo.com/open/how-might-we-improve-health-care-through-social-business-in-low-income-communities/concepting/asbestos-canvas/
2. Clean the environment
In our concept the material used to encapsulate asbestos is coming from the recycling of wasted plastic, thus helping removing not biodegradable polluting material from the extremely rich ecosystem of Caldas. As an extension of our concept, projects could be started with the schools of Caldas, moving students to contribute cleaning their environment by collecting wasted PET bottles. The collected PET could be paid by means of books or other didactical material or any
other funding to the school programs, thus supporting education in Caldas. Furthermore, different collected waste could be used as a further resource for creating income, described in the inspiration: http://www.openideo.com/open/how-might-we-improve-health-care-through-social-business-in-low-income-communities/inspiration/coepmadam-the-garbage-ladies/
3. Create a more attractive environment
As in the M. Gladwell quotation above, our purpose is to make people of Caldas proud of the place where they are living. An easy way to characterize Caldas’ roofs would be to produce the films of encapsulating material in different colors by adding colorant pigments in the recycling process. When several films are used in the same roofs, the effect achieve will be of a colorful ensemble. In addition, putting colors to the outside appearance (Painting project, as mentioned in the inspiration: http://www.openideo.com/open/how-might-we-improve-health-care-through-social-business-in-low-income-communities/inspiration/built-environment-urban-designing-for-mental-physical-wellbeing-/ will ensure that the housing will stuck out from the environment, giving its owner a sense of pride and motivating other people in the community to undertake the same process.
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