Entrepreneurs and creators throughout the island can put their innovative abilities to work and transform waste into marketable products at one convenient location in the coming weeks.  

The Guam Green Growth (G3) Circular Economy Makerspace and Innovation Hub will celebrate its grand opening to the public at 3:30 p.m. January 13, 2022, out of three houses at the CHamoru Village in Hagåtña.  

The spaces will provide creators resources to upcycle items and materials in contribution to Guam’s emerging green economy. Moreover, the effort will help address the overreliance on imported products and increased amount of waste generated locally.  

Alongside a green store and innovation hub offering local merchandise for the environmentally conscious and guidance for those seeking business advisement, the maker space house features an abundance of tools capable of processing wood, metal, various other materials, and plastic in a third house devoted to world-renowned Precious Plastic machines. 

For a fee, creators can access a laser cutter, computer numerical control router, 3D printer, vinyl cutter, and apparatuses to shred, extrude, inject, press, and melt plastic, among other convenient equipment. Patrons can avail of the services for $50 per month or $500 per year with a 20% discount applicable to yearly memberships.  

The G3 Circular Economy Makerspace and Innovation Hub also supports G3’s mission toward establishing sustainable and profitable cottage industries, improving the performance of enterprise facilitation and development programs, and supporting regional economic development.  

The center’s managing and support staff are seasoned in business and product development and are willing to share their skills and knowledge with those utilizing the spaces. Those eager to learn can attend creative workshops and hear from members of the University of Guam (UOG) School of Business and Public Administration, Guam Unique Merchandise and Arts, the Small Business Development Center, and the Guam Economic Development Authority. Additionally, products created can be sold in the green store on consignment.  

Myracle Mugol, G3 circular economy coordinator, sees the operation as a place to grow with like-minded people and convenient resources, what she says can be missing factors for ideas to come to fruition.  

 “When people ask me about the space and all the things that come with it, I tell them it’s my three Cs of G3: curation of equipment, tools, and workshops to make our ideas happen; collaboration with development and resource partners, who assist with the innovation and expansion into business and cooperatives; and community – the people surrounding these spaces, who allow for ideas to grow, develop, and move,” said Mugol. 

“The community is the support and backbone for sustainability; the very change-makers who push the culture needed for the initiatives to move forward,” she continued.  

“Our team looks forward to the opening of the G3 Circular Economy Makerspace and Innovation Hub and all the creative products that will be developed by our talented community,” stated Dr. Austin Shelton, director of the UOG Center for Island Sustainability and Sea Grant. “The hub will reduce our island’s waste and diversify our economy through the stimulation of new green industries.”  

The G3 Circular Economy Makerspace and Innovation Hub is funded by the National Science Foundation’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research Guam Ecosystems Collaboratorium for Corals and Oceans, better known as EPSCoR GECCO, GEDA, and the Office of the Governor.  

Ahead of the January 13 grand opening, the Guam Green Growth Circular Economy Makerspace and Innovation Hub is currently open for small tours which can be arranged via email to mugolm@triton.uog.edu. 

About G3 
Aligned with the 17 U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, the Guam Green Growth Initiative, or G3, cultivates an ecosystem for transformative action to achieve a sustainable, prosperous, and equitable future for Guam. The University of Guam facilitates the island-wide initiative in cooperation with the Office of the Governor of Guam and the 99 members of the G3 Working Groups, representing all sectors of society.