Mexican cacti have captivated the scientific community due their extraordinary characteristics and benefits.This research established a new way to use this ancestral plant as a substitute for other construction materials that given their industrial and technological processes have -in several cases- skyrocketed their costs, besides of being a constant hazard for the environment. Thus, by looking back how ancestors used to solve their construction needs, it would ultimately allow us to find better ways to protect the environment. Production process is analyzed; experimented with it; and its prominent characteristics analyzed derived from Opuntia ficus-indica extract combined with other natural materials to be then used it as a waterproofing material.
Tests 1 and 2 absorbed a greater quantity of water when submerged. Test 3 absorbed less water than the others, followed by test 4. Test 5 offered no waterproofing, whatsoever.
Looking back to our ancestors’ solutions do not imply that they were all correct. However, it is utterly important to know the past to understand the future. Looking upon these ancient techniques once again, that some of them actually worked thoroughly to solve a design problem, could be an strategy to save our civilization. As a reminder, one must never asume that by imitating solutions from times past, means that these solutions are intrinsically the right ones (Lidwell, 2003).