Solving The World's Problems

     There are always people out there who are hard at work solving the world's problems.  Izhar Gafni, an Israeli industrial designer and amateur cyclist, has just completed a successful prototype of a cardboard bicycle.  The bike goes into production in a few months.  This bicycle is strong, weatherproof, and will cost about $20.00.  Since production grants to factories and advertising on the bikes in the form of decals will bring production costs down to zero, the $20.00 price would go to the retailers handling the bikes.  Most of the time, the two-wheelers would be handed out for free.  The bikes also have a mounting for an electric motor that operates on a daily charging.  The cardboard bike could eliminate a lot of traffic and pollution in cities.  It would be especially welcome in poor places like Africa where people desperately need cheap transportation.  http://news.yahoo.com/cardboard-bicycle-change-world-says-israeli-inventor-090732689.html

The cardboard is cut and layered in a special way, then soaked in organic materials that make it waterproof and fire resistant.  Finally, it's coated with lacquer paint.

     I don't have engineering skills or a science background.  I don't have a ton of money to throw at a social problem.  I am, however, full of ideas.  My blog entry from July 23, 2012 featured a competition for one square meter houses.

Knowing about these small houses, and also knowing that Nanook lived snugly in an igloo, gave me an idea.  Could the problem of homeless people freezing to death be solved by either passing out portable shelters or setting up these shelters in an open area?
     There was a local homeless guy who kept all his worldly goods in a rolling Rubbermaid® tote. Wouldn't it be possible to increase the size of this container on wheels, add some insulation between the two plastic walls, and add an air vent?  Wouldn't it even be possible to run some electric heating elements through the walls or floor of the container so that it could be plugged in like an electric blanket?  These lockers would be a snap to keep clean - just use a little disinfectant and hose them out.
     A couple of people have suggested housing the homeless in dog houses.  This idea was met with plenty of opposition.  Some say it's demeaning to put a human in a large dog house.  One guy raised the roof of a dog house, thinking the structure would be less demeaning, and he was told that his new building looked like an outhouse.  That design was also too demeaning for human habitation.  The proponents of dog house living suspect that the real reason politicians refuse to embrace this solution is because no one wants the homeless in their community.  If it's too cold, and a few homeless people die on a freezing night, maybe all the homeless will move on.

http://articles.dailypress.com/2010-12-21/news/dp-nws-tamara-cold-1222-20101221_1_doghouses-homeless-man-empty-house

http://articles.dailypress.com/2010-12-30/news/dp-nws-tamara-doghouse-1231-20101230_1_doghouse-blankets-jim-rudisill

http://articles.latimes.com/1989-04-23/news/mn-1752_1_doghouse-homeless-man-shelter

     I know, from working twenty-five years at the Board of Social Services, there are quite a few homeless people in Burlington County.  Most of them want to get back into a standard housing situation - an apartment or a house.  However, there are people who will never live under a roof. You'll never be able to coax them to come in from outside.  Maybe these folks could pick up a portable shelter at a county facility, use it for as long as they want, and return it when they no longer need it.  This has to be better than huddling under a wet blanket inside a cardboard box. Does anybody else see any merit to this idea?