The tireless fight for a cleaner air in Peru

By Pierina Chicoma

In 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) released alarming news: Peru held the record for being the country with the highest air pollution in all of Latin America. However, long before this report revealed the severity of the situation, Jorge Gutiérrez Muñoz was already immersed in the search for solutions to improve the environment.

Faced with the significant problem that we were facing, and that almost no one knew about, Jorge developed two innovative machines to clean the air in the streets, but his original idea did not receive the expected attention from institutions. Rejection was not new to him; he recalled that in 1996, still as a Navy officer, he led the decontamination of 175 maritime hectares of the Port of Callao. And although they managed to clean the water to a crystal-clear state, their efforts and proposals to decontaminate other bays were ignored by different state entities.

“The constant rejections and little attention we received led me to found Tierra Nuestra”, explains Jorge. The NGO he leads is dedicated to identifying technologies to improve people’s quality of life, addressing crucial issues such as lack of drinking water and promoting education. Their projects in Arequipa, Trujillo, and Lima have positively impacted communities, creating jobs, and improving water quality.

Nine years later, in 2023, Peru was again considered the country with the worst air in the region, in a ranking conducted by IQAir along with Greenpeace. Unfortunately, the news no longer surprises Peru, but it fuels Tierra Nuestra to continue promoting valuable information about environmental care and an tireless fight to change the statistics.

Jorge Gutiérrez emphasizes the importance of actions and education needed to prevent diseases related to air pollution, such as tuberculosis and cancer. With the creation of their air-purifying machines, called ‘Super Tree,’ he ranked among the top five in the History Channel contest in 2014.

Initially materialized as the device called Urban Air Purifier (PAU 20), this innovative machine has the ability to clean large volumes of air at a reduced cost, eliminating 98% of harmful particles dispersed in the environment, with the capacity to process 200,000 m³/day, equivalent to the breathing of 20,000 people.

Due to its simple and economical maintenance, this tool presents itself as the most suitable solution to reduce environmental pollution in large urban environments.

Education and Technology

With the mission of improving the quality of life and addressing urgent issues, especially in marginalized communities, the organization understood that education is the key to sustainable progress. Therefore, they have established educational projects in Arequipa, Trujillo, and Lima, focusing on the training and preparation of citizens. They started by training 50 people, who were assisted in starting businesses. Now, many of them lead small businesses in the textile sector, producing uniforms for doctors and nurses.

Access to clean water remains a challenge in many parts of the country. In an exemplary initiative in Arequipa, the organization implemented projects to improve water quality. With the help of innovative technology, they were able to purify large volumes of water in rural areas, benefiting more than 2,000 people.

The organization has not only focused on water access but also on aquatic decontamination. They have developed a unique system that uses centrifugal force, magnetism, and ozone to purify large quantities of water. This system has been successfully applied in a mine, where, in addition to purifying water, they generated tons of fertilizer for agriculture, benefiting entire communities.

Almost 16 years went by since Jorge founded Tierra Nuestra, and with the same passion that inspired them back in 2008, they will once again present to the Congress of the Republic the machines that clean the air in the streets and hospitals with sustainable solutions, seeking the necessary support to continue expanding this innovation that benefits the population.

Did you like the work carried out by Tierra Nuestra and want to help?

The organization relies on the collaboration of concerned and committed experts in improving the environment, but it needs everyone’s help to promote its projects. Additionally, they conduct campaigns in places that need assistance the most, so if you are able to contribute, you can donate:

• Food;
• Medicines;
• If you are an expert in any field, you can offer your services to conduct entrepreneurship workshops;
• Cultural dissemination;
• Production of videos to disseminate information on a large scale.

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