Sightings | Alumni Profile

Nicholas School Alumnus Santiago Lobeira (MEM '99) Practices Sustainability at Work and at Home p.2

by Lisa M. Dellwo

  Because solar photovoltaic panels are so expensive, the Lobeiras realized they could not live completely off the grid. So they stretched their budget as far as possible to buy energy- and waterefficient appliances. But they never need to turn on their energy-saving light fixtures during daylight and only rarely— on a cold December day—do they need to use gas to heat water.

  From concept to moving day, the remodeling project took two years. The day after the workers finally left, Olivia gave birth to Sabrina, their first child.

   In the meantime, Lobeira had struck up an acquaintance with Manolo Ruíz, a hotel manager who shared his interest in sustainability, and the two decided to join forces professionally.

  It took several tries and a bit of serendipity to discover what they could do profitably to promote sustainability in a weak Mexican economy. The two worked together first as environmental consultants then as entrepreneurs selling solar heating systems and worm compost. But the corporations they were targeting had a responsibility to the bottom line that superseded becoming environmentally responsible.

   “Trying to sell worm compost in Mexico at this time was a pretty complex challenge,” Lobeira recalls. As a promotional strategy, the partners began giving away small supplies of the substance—the byproduct of feeding kitchen waste to redworms—with flower bulbs, in attractive packages. “People loved it,” he says. And they wanted to buy more of the “freebies” to use as gifts to friends and customers.

  When they realized that their worm compost/seed kits would sell, Lobeira and Ruíz had found their niche. Putting all of their other business plans on hold, they began packaging the kits and selling them to businesses for use as corporate gifts. In August 2003, they incorporated as Sustenta Soluciones.

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