MIT Solve

Solution Overview

Solution Name

Ecobache

One-line solution summary.

An organization which has as main goal to fix the streets of the city Hermosillo, Sonora in Mexico using an ecological and efficient way.

What is your solution?

My solution is to create a new type of asphalt that is made with recyclable materials that would be trash otherwise, and create an app in which the user can report if their street has any hole in it or needs to be fixed, then we would use the asphalt made with recyclables to cover these holes. It uses various types of technology as we see with the app and the creation and producing of the asphalt.

What specific problem are you trying to solve?

I am originative from the city Hermosillo, which is located in the northwest state of Sonora in Mexico, is a really calm town, but it has a big issue that creates buzz in the population: the streets are covered in holes, and when i say that i mean it, there is not a single street in this whole city that doesn´t have at least one hole, even the main streets are like this, so you can imagine the state of the more less known parts in town, there are some streets that are just one big hole on the ground with no paving whatsoever.

Countless politicians have "tried" to fix this, and there are entire political campaigns that have this as a main focus, and still, there is literally zero results, people have already lost the hope of ever having a good paving system.

It is estimated that 80% of the streets have some kind of damage done to them, and if you told me that´s and underestimate i would one houndred porcent believe it.

The street i live in is one of the busiest boulevards on the city, and you really have to zigzag your way around the street if you don´t want serious damage done to your car by the holes.

Who does your solution serve? In what ways will the solution impact their lives?

The whole population of my city and hopefully in the future all of Mexico, since the roads are so badly done i think it does affect our quality of life and is bad for the enviroment because the cars that circulate in this city of almost a million habitants are more prone to get damaged and peoble have to change cars quite often.

Also there is a huge problem surrounding trash on the whole world, so using recycables to create an asphalt that would cover the wholes can decrease for the moment, the trash at least around town.

What steps have you taken to understand the needs of the population you want to serve?

Sadly, i haven´t done much to help in this cause yet, since there is not really any traction to solve this by the population, everyone kind of agreed to let the goverment fix this, that´s why i want to change the way things are done, but as a Mexican citizen i cant attest that is a general with the population consensus the fact the streets need to be fixed.

Which aspects of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?

Taking action to combat climate change and its impacts (Sustainability)

Our solution's stage of development:

Concept: An idea being explored for its feasibility to build a product, service, or business model based on that idea

Explain why you selected this stage of development for your solution—in other words, what have you accomplished to date?

I still only have this as a concept, i haven´t done much but structure it, i don´t hace a prototype yet but i will work towards it in the future.

Still i know this is a proyect that would benefit my city so much.

Where our solution team is headquartered or located:

Hermosillo, Son., México

Team Lead:

Ximena López Armendariz