For years, my wife and I have been bringing food, clothing, blankets, pup-tents, mini-flashlight, radios, batteries, etc., to the homeless camps in my area; whatever we could find that might help. I learned why so many of them refuse to go to the local shelters. The reasons are varied and too many to address here. But from these exchanges, I saw a real need for an alternative.
The vast majority of this project is made from Coroplast, a trade name for corrugated plastic. Paul Elkins is a DIY'er and a creative kind of guy that makes some fun stuff. It was his design for a Homeless Emergency Shelter that put me on this path. Corrugate plastic seemed a strange choice until its utility had been revealed. It's strength and durability are surprising and its uses are many.
From the mundane...USPS EMM Tray Plastic.jpg
...To the fantastical, Awesome Oru Origami Kayak Folds Into its Own Compact Carrying Caseoru-angle-kayak.jpg
...corrugated plastic is used for an impressive array of products. But the most compelling reason to design with Coroplast is that tons of the stuff worldwide is trashed or recycled every year, especially with every election cycle. Translation? Its free.
The body of the project is being redesigned so that most of the features are folded for extra strength. Origami is very cool and this project is turning into a lot of fun!
Here are some links for information and ideas:
(Facebook Group) Velomobiles - Coroplast
Google search: corrugated plastic projects AND corrugated plastic origami
Statistics: Posted by Phillip H — Mon Nov 02, 2015 8:51 pm