Sustainable Solutions for Island Development

Plastic beverage bottles are one of the most ubiquitous types of single-use plastic worldwide. It is also one of the simplest to substitute with a reusable option. Our solution will specifically be targeting plastic water bottles. In Trinidad and Tobago, bottled water is widely purchased due to its convenience, as well as general mistrust of tap-borne water. 

Pinguino Purified Water uses a machine with an effective and reliable multi-tiered filtration system, specifically designed to dispense water into refillable bottles, at a lower cost to the general public than bottled water. Potable water is not equally accessible to countries within Latin America and the Caribbean, as such many persons have to rely on bottled drinking water, particularly while on the go. Our solution not only reduces plastic pollution but also provides readily available clean drinking water for public consumption.

The World Bank 2018 Report, “What A Waste 2.0”, stated that Trinidad and Tobago generates 1.47 kg of waste per capita per day, of which 12% is plastic. Within the framework of the Rethink Plastics Challenge, a major issue identified is the production of single-use plastic bottles for consumption by the general public. In a 2018 EarthDay Fact Sheet, it was noted that “Humans buy about 1,000,000 plastic bottles per minute in total.” National Geographic also identified plastic bottles and bottle caps as the third and fourth most collected plastic trash items in the Ocean Conservancy’s annual September beach cleanups in more than 100 countries. Here in Trinidad & Tobago,this fact was reiterated during a beach cleanup exercise which yielded over 1000 plastic bottles in a small area.

Production is inherently linked to consumption; our solution targets both. Pinguino Purified Water is able to generate income as a water company without producing plastic, while its consumers can access clean drinking water using refillable bottles. Hence, targeting consumer behavior can reduce the demand for single-use plastic bottles, and the mode of supply will follow suit, reducing the rates of production of single-use plastic bottles.

Pinguino Purified Water began as a community driven initiative. The existing machine is currently placed at a popular sporting grounds, and services neighborhoods between Curepe and Arima, in Eastern Trinidad. In addition to the athletes who frequent the facility, the machine has been most popular among members of the community aged 50 and older, particularly due to the perceived benefits of the alkaline water dispensed. 

Pinguino undertook marketing activities in order to increase awareness about the solution, by providing testers of the water, issuing flyers, newspaper advertisements, and most importantly, providing free, reusable bottles to potential customers. 

Overtime, Pinguino has taken consumer feedback on board, and made continual improvements to perfect their service, such as adding additional filters (nine in total), taste-testing the water, and adding a cooling mechanism to dispense chilled water. 

Thus, this solution addresses the needs of the community, by providing access to refillable, purified, alkaline water at a competitive price. This reduces single-use plastic waste among consumers, improves health as alkaline water is considered healthier for the body, and is economically feasible in both the short and long term. 

Pinguino Purified Water is a purified water manufacturer that is both health and environmentally conscious. Pinguino Purified Water is the only water manufacturer in Trinidad and Tobago that has a 100% BPA FREE bottle, and issues reusable bottles to its customers at no extra charge. The bottle refill station located on Eddie Hart grounds, which is an aquifer,  uses a 9 stage reverse osmosis and alkaline purification system. The machine is imported from the USA, and can be customized to suit the local context. It offers the community access to affordable purified, alkaline water, 24 hours a day. 

According to a Forbes report Trinidad and Tobago pro­duces a whop­ping 3.6 kilo­grams of plas­tic waste per capi­ta per day; the largest in the world. Over eight thousand tonnes of plastics are being disposed of at the nation’s landfills annually, this does not include the countless amounts which are indiscriminately discarded throughout the country.  Plastics in Trinidad and Tobago account for approximately 19% of the municipal solid waste entering the three landfill sites. That amounts to approximately 90,000 tonnes with only one small-scale facility capable of recycling. Therefore, there is an urgent need to reduce our plastic consumption and understand the true economic and ecological prices of our purchases. Through this initiative, innovation is portrayed through our ability to step away from this linear economy model and reduce our consumption. The key to reducing plastic in the environment therefore, seems to be not re-using nor recycling but simply refusing plastic.Citizens are now offered an alternative method to reducing plastic pollution but yet have access to clean drinking water at an affordable cost. This business model not only acts as an educational tool but also encourages change in behaviour.  

The widespread consumer appeal of bottled water is due to drinkability and convenience. We trust that bottled water is safe and healthy to consume, and it’s near universal availability allows us to easily quench our thirst wherever we are. However, if we could easily access safe drinking water in public spaces, we could re-conceptualize drinkability and convenience. It would become convenient, and in many cases, more affordable for consumers to carry their own refillable bottles. Each bottle refillled equates to one less plastic bottle wasted and polluting our environment. Consumers who usually purchase bottled water will have an alternative option that enables them to consume less single use plastic. Over time, this will engender a shift in consumer behaviour, as it becomes easier to integrate reusable options into daily life, with added benefits of cost-effectiveness and environmental consideration. The success of this model will set precedent for more local governments, social enterprises, private corporations and community groups to make it easier for consumers to access sustainable options, and thus change notions of “convenience” and “profitability”.

The existing machine currently serves approximately 50 persons each day only in Trinidad. Within the next year, Pinguino plans to open its first machine in a large secondary school with a student body of 800. This has the potential to increase the total customer base by 500%. 

Within the next five years, Pinguino hopes to be serving all secondary schools and universities in Trinidad and Tobago, in addition to placing machines in government offices and large companies. Pinguino also hopes to expand into neighboring islands in the Caribbean. 

The solution’s positive impact is measured with the increase in daily usage of the water dispenser, with approximately 21,600 persons using the machine in the past 3 years. This in theory means that the machine has significantly reduced the purchase of one-time use cases of bottled water. The machine currently also has a flow-meter which estimated 108,000 gallons dispensed thus far. This can be connected to a counter to estimate the number of bottles saved based on the volume dispensed. The environmental implications of this means that less plastic is being released into landfills, taking hundreds of years to degrade, or waterways, jeopardizing marine life. The machine also has a positive impact on the users by stimulating a culture of re-use rather than dispose. This means that persons would be able to reuse their water bottles over a sustained period of time. This in turn has an economical benefit as persons aren't forced to purchase water bottles every time they need access to purified water. By offering the service at a competitive market price, persons are also encouraged to purchase water at the refill station as compared to in a grocery.

There are, at present, 700 secondary schools in Trinidad. The goal within the next five years is for Pinguino Purified Water to have a dispensing machine in all of these schools. By targeting the youth, the intent is to create a more sustainable culture that can be carried into adulthood.  

In addition, Pinguino plans to extend its services to Corporate customers, such as oil companies. In time, the intent is to offer the service up the chain of islands, as the Caribbean is poised to implement sustainable water consumption practices such as this, with successes already being witnessed in countries such as Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao.

1) The machine itself requires significant upfront capital expenditure. The operation time required to recoup this initial investment is approximately one year. 

2) Another concern is security, as machines in public spaces may be vandalized. 

3) According to where individual machines are located, the quality of water from the main line to which the machine is connect may not be ideal. 

4) Public spaces as potential locations for machines may be subject to a lengthy approval process by the relevant government ministry. 

5) Strength of local bottled water companies. 

6) Community engagement. 

7) Stakeholder buy-in throughout the region.

1) Considerable resource mobilization is necessary to finance initial capital investment. After several years of operation, Pinguino has sufficient resources to finance it's next machine, however as rate of expansion increases, new finance models will have to be employed, such as loans or grants. This solution is financially sustainable, since consumers pay for use of the machine. Therefore, the machine generates income to cover moderate maintenance costs, as well as profit to repay loans. 

2) Regarding security, machines will not be placed in areas considered high-risk. Public parks and schools are relatively protected and well-monitored.

3)  Less than ideal water mains quality can be easily mitigated by adding more filters to the machine. 

4) The next machines planned will be approved directly by school Principals, thus by-passing approval delay by government agencies.

5) Local bottled water companies dominate the market, but citizens are becoming more environmentally conscious. Consumers will be incentivized by receiving free reusable bottles, and purified, alkaline water at a lower price than single-use bottled competitors.  

6) Increased social media publicity to build engagement, and partnering with local environmental groups and community leaders.  

7) Lesson learnt from existing model will be adapted and replicated in new contexts and areas of operation.

Pinguino Purified Water is a private company that has been operating in Trinidad and Tobago, a Caribbean nation, for the past decade. 

Four full-time staff work on our solution team.

Our team, comprised of consultants from Sustainable Solutions for Island Development (SSID) Ltd. and the founders of Pinguino Purified Water, believes in the power of partnership in the effort to build a better future for developing islands. Both organizations were established to devise and drive sustainable solutions. All members of our team have a wealth of combined first hand experience amassed through working for the United Nations, government ministries, major national private corporations and regional non-governmental organizations. SSID Ltd. works to connect the dots between disparate organizations and foster a harmonized network of actors motivated to bring about positive social, environmental, and economic change. Pinguino Purified Water is a social enterprise, offering a home-grown solution with proven success in its community. It is now well placed to expand its operations, and thus amplify the environmental benefits.

Sustainable Solutions for Island Development (SSID) Ltd. and Pinguino Purified Water are currently partnering for this initiative. 

Pinguino Purified Water offers purified, alkaline water at an affordable cost and at varying dispensing volumes. This allows persons to refill their existing beverage containers, by paying less than if they were to purchase a new bottle of water of the same volume. Essentially, this means that the service pays for itself, based on use by the community. Therefore, the operator of the service is able to recoup any initial capital expenditure, as well as cover the cost of maintenance and repairs through continued and increased usage of the water dispensing machine, at a reduced cost to the consumer. 

This solution in its current form is already is financially sustainable. It does not require sustained donations or grants. It sells water, and thus generates a revenue stream which can recoup the capital investment within one year, and cover all maintenance costs. This a profitable enterprise, that also provides a social service, that is, access to clean water without producing single-use plastic. 

We believe that our initiative can have a meaningful impact within Trinidad and Tobago, as well as be a sustainable model for the Caribbean to adopt at large. As small island developing states, there is a need for solutions that are tailored to our unique social and economic conditions, but that can still allow for meaningful contributions that generate global environmental benefits. Initiatives such as the “Rethink Plastics Challenge”, facilitate opportunities for the average individual, to conceptualize and pilot such solutions, that are consumer-based, with scalability for national to regional impact.

Organizations that can assist in spreading the benefits of the service, to the wider public, can help accelerate the positive benefits yielded from this solution. Similarly, initiatives such as the Environmental Management Authority's iCare project, which seeks to stimulate a culture or recycling (especially single-use plastics) in Trinidad & Tobago, can partner to highlight alternative solutions such as this one or even Upcycling. This can take the approach of a multi-tiered campaign, towards battling plastic pollution in Trinidad & Tobago. Similarly, other organizations which will accelerate the solution include; the Iamovement, Ministry of Public Utilities, the Caribbean Network for Integrated Rural Development, the United Nations Development Programme, the Institute of Marine Affairs, SWMCOL, Nature Seekers and Massy Stores.