The model-turned-Tequila-mogul has revealed her 818 Tequila distillery is donating bricks crafted from agave waste to build local homes.
Appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Kendall Jenner said: “At our distillery, which I was just at the other day, we found a way to take the agave waste, the agave fibres and the water waste, and build this sustainable brick that we are actually donating back to the community of Jalisco.”
Jenner revealed the bricks have already been used to construct “half a hospital” and were also being supplied to “people that need homes”.
It’s not the first time that Mexican innovators have made bricks used from natural materials. A movement of architects has been gathering up the excess sargassum (seaweed) that has washed up on the shores of coastal towns in vast quantities, and using it to craft bricks for local building projects.
The socially-conscious move by Jenner follows an avalanche of criticism for 818 Tequila’s advertising campaign, which showed the model leading a horse through an agave field wearing traditional Mexican dress and with her hair braided.
“This is so offensive. Modelling that chic migrant worker look for her tequila brand,” one viewer wrote on Twitter in response to the ad.
Another Tweeted: “Is Kendall Jenner really wearing braids and pretending to be a farm worker while colonising tequila? It’s a no from me.”
Jenner has also been accused of failing to credit the local workers who make her 818 Tequila, which launched in May, selling out just four hours after its launch.
“Along with saving the planet, it’s important for us to be friendly to the community as well,” Jenner told Jimmy Fallon of her new brick-making initiative.