Brilliant man builds portable homes out of trash!

This man truly is brilliant. A perfect example of innovation being blended with compassion! It warms my heart to see this in action, I believe this to be the true face of humanity, concern for one another.

www.spiritscienceandmetaphysics.com...

This man goes dumpster diving, but not for the reason most people would think. Instead of looking for food, he looks for garbage and scraps to build amazing little homes for homeless people!

It is one aspect of our society that can not be allowed to be ignored any longer. We have allowed for these conditions to exist for far too long. This man is a pioneer and it is this kind of inspiration that I believe we will begin to see more and more of. I hope others find hope in this like I have. Thanks to you Gregory!!

Pretty cool, but they look like doghouses to me.

I will be honest and admit I would not want to live in one of those buildings.

Nevertheless good find and good job by this man.

you should see the stuff that is thrown away by builders during a job. I threw a lot of lumber away when remodeling homes. Some of it was good wood. I sent my share of aluminum siding to the scrapyard. At least it got recycled. When I built garages, I tried to make sure to use scraps in the construction to keep from hauling it to the dump. It was planning that helped to do this. Fillers for headers and corner pieces were made from cutoff wood. No use cutting a full sheet or full 2x4 or 2x6 into pieces. If a 2x4 was crooked, cut it for window opening boards. A whole house only has a pickup truck full of scraps when built efficiently. And those are small pieces.

Some people waste a lot though.

a reply to: Metallicus

It is true that they look like dog houses, which goes to show how out necessity we can survive with much less than the luxuries we have come to expect. For the person on the street this makes all of the difference in the world. The elements can be quite unforgiving!

I just love that he is able to accomplish what he is by having the vision to take his creative skills and apply them to multiple problems at once, 1. The homeless 2. The absurd levels of waste.

a reply to: rickymouse

I have worked as a laborer on some jobs and you are right, the levels of waste that I have witnessed is ludicrous! It is good to know that you are conscientous when you are on the job! Thank you for that!

This remind me of the Earthships, the whole recycling garbage to make homes. Sure they are not as energy efficient as those, but we are slowly, but surely becoming more responsible!

a reply to: elementalgrove

In most cases, it is more profitable to have the guys go like hell and waste more in the process. In the long run it is more profitable to have the guys learn to conserve though. They throw all cut boards in a pile and sort the lumber before starting. This saves time crowning the studs first and checking out if they are twisted. It saves cutouts later. Also, teaching them to plan ahead saves time in the longrun. I have trained many workers in the past, it saves them money on their own projects also.

I saw quite a bit of waste in the factories I worked at also. Guys will break things if the going gets tough for a little while.

originally posted by: Metallicus
Pretty cool, but they look like doghouses to me.

I will be honest and admit I would not want to live in one of those buildings.

Nevertheless good find and good job by this man.

Well, when you're homeless and someone says "Want some where to keep the rain off you?" you can say "Nah man they look like crap, I would rather sleep in the gutter."

Appears to be many others who doing similar things with alternative types of shelters...

Gary Pickering designs rolling pods for homeless people. Easy and relatively inexpensive to build, Gary's pictures here show several of his pod prototypes. You can customize yours to your own liking. Build a rolling pod to be your very own -- for you and the things you own. dignityrollerpod.blogspot.com...

I think it's wonderful that people are trying to help the homeless like this. I would just be concerned with the winter months and snowstorms. I don't know how well they would stand up.

It's a nice idea, but anything that can be moved onto the top of a flat-bed truck is a secure as a shopping basket.

a reply to: Murgatroid

Thank you for posting those vids! It is so great to become aware of those out there doing what they can to help!

a reply to: stormcell

I suppose you are correct, they may not be the most secure, I am sure there would be a way to make the stealing of it difficult. More than anything you would hope that this act of kindness will be multiplied and people would not have to worry about stealing anothers when teams of people could build them for others.

It appears that some of the homeless people he made them for began doing that very thing, working towards helping their fellow homeless.

originally posted by: Night Star
I think it's wonderful that people are trying to help the homeless like this. I would just be concerned with the winter months and snowstorms. I don't know how well they would stand up.

No worries, he's building them in Oakland, California, just across the Bay from San Francisco. We don't do snow here. Those structures look like a good deal for anyone to use to get out of the cold & rain here in the winter. Bless his heart!

Could we maybe help the homeless more efficiently if we found homes for them?
Putting people in mobile coffins is hardly a kind solution...however the bleep green.....

a reply to: stirling

Well there is no doubt that the number of homeless is way below the number of empty homes.

www.truthdig.com...

There is the solution for efficiency, they are already built. However good luck getting bankers to release the homes they stole from people.

This is not the point, the point here is that someone is doing something! To those that are in the streets with nothing else those mobile coffins are most assuredly a solution.

This is not a permanent solution to the homeless problem, but it is helpful bandage. I have been in a homeless situation and it was cold and rain was coming. I managed to cobble together a shelter out of a sheet of corrugated tin, some plastic sheeting, a bunch of sticks, and newspaper for insulation. All found materials. It allowed me to survive some very harsh weather for a few days.

a reply to: skunkape23

I can only imagine how difficult it was, thank you for sharing. It is a helpful bandage, especially in the sense of bringing hope back to those currently homeless. We do care, society can change, it begins with individuals and expands to the collective. I am sure that there is no worse feeling than that of the loneliness that would accompany homelessness.

I know that I can do more, I may not have the gameplan down, however it is from inspiration like this that encourages us to snap out of our apathy into action, cooperation, and growth!

Now if only the illegals crossing the border would respond in kind instead of just leaving their trash and excrement on ranchers land maybe there would be a little more sympathy for them. Granted, they couldn't exactly squat on ranchers land but since they are being provided so much help relevant to transportation these days, why not pack up their trash and take it with them and then build dwellings similar as this article mentioned when they arrive at their new destination.. Maybe folks would feel more understanding then...though really, the illegal invasion is perhaps too much of a problem for a myriad of reasons...just sayin. Housing is the least of it. The entire problem is one for us all and the entire country.

originally posted by: stirling
Could we maybe help the homeless more efficiently if we found homes for them?
Putting people in mobile coffins is hardly a kind solution...however the bleep green.....

You would rather they sleep on a rainy street in the cold blowing weather while they wait for a real house? While they wait maybe they can get a Obama phone and call the White House and order some organic food for delivery.

The fact that there are human beings who have no shelter from the elements or food to eat is a shameful atrocity. It puts a lack of empathy in the human species on display. Call me a commie.