Hack the air in your house.
Sometimes all you need is a good idea and some energetic young people to hint at it to, and let them believe it was their own idea, and watch it take off.
Problem:
Wildfire smoke is a major health issue.
Indoor air quality is often overlooked.
Remedies are often expensive and not available to renters.
Recipe:
A DIY box fan filtration system that removes wildfire smoke particles.
https://engineering.ucdavis.edu/news/science-action-how-build-corsi-rosenthal-box
Ingredients:
One local Girl Scout and one Boy Scout troop.
Mix in:
Local funding (from a local credit union) to build 80 air filtration boxes and give them away to poor families, especially those with young children.
Fans and filters finally delivered. This construction is all happening in a large church basement. We were supposed to start work Monday, now it’s this weekend. While we waited, the church decided it was such a good idea, they will help with distribution. The biggest concern is to decide who gets them? Working with community support organizations, the Scouts identified 80 local families to give the filters away to. The families don't know yet. It will be a surprise.
An Aside:
Many have criticized the scouting movement. Yes, there have been some bad shit come down. But talk to the scouts themselves, and you will find that they’re well aware of bad actors, they do care. Yet the benefits of being in a troop, learning, having fun, getting out of the house, and doing good work. All outweigh the politics of national organizations.
Back to the Shenanigans:
Of course they wanted to make it a competition. But I did notice that not all. There were a few, off to the side, that wanted more to make it an art project. So both happened. There was paint, and colored duck tape. And imagination.
Everyone had watched the video. The task was not complex. But the team organization was left for them to decide on their own. Some broke the tasks down to an assembly line. Some worked in ones or twos, deciding on the aesthetics before construction. It was pretty much a free-for-all. I do credit the ‘leaders’ for not getting in the way of spontaneity.
In the end, it only took half a day to produce 80 fan boxes. All neatly stacked and ready to deliver. Lunch was homemade tacos and delivered pizza. And the scouts were proud and hungry.
To Notice:
All this took was an idea gently placed in the hands of some great kids. They did the work. Yes, it was a couple of adults that hustled the credit union for funding. But that only took one conversation with a willing institution.
Act locally.
Walk around your neighborhood.
Find just one small need and solve it locally.
Ask others to help.
Don't ask permission.
Then take that organizing base and solve another.
This could be decentralized and locally run.
Screw the policies and the politics.
There are many tools that we can use to accomplish this. The most important is the dignity of work. Give a person a job that matters to their family and friends. They will change the world.
Sometimes all you need is a good idea and some energetic young people to hint at it to, and let them believe it was their own idea, and watch it take off.
Problem:
Wildfire smoke is a major health issue.
Indoor air quality is often overlooked.
Remedies are often expensive and not available to renters.
Recipe:
A DIY box fan filtration system that removes wildfire smoke particles.
https://engineering.ucdavis.edu/news/science-action-how-build-corsi-rosenthal-box
Ingredients:
One local Girl Scout and one Boy Scout troop.
Mix in:
Local funding (from a local credit union) to build 80 air filtration boxes and give them away to poor families, especially those with young children.
Fans and filters finally delivered. This construction is all happening in a large church basement. We were supposed to start work Monday, now it’s this weekend. While we waited, the church decided it was such a good idea, they will help with distribution. The biggest concern is to decide who gets them? Working with community support organizations, the Scouts identified 80 local families to give the filters away to. The families don't know yet. It will be a surprise.
An Aside:
Many have criticized the scouting movement. Yes, there have been some bad shit come down. But talk to the scouts themselves, and you will find that they’re well aware of bad actors, they do care. Yet the benefits of being in a troop, learning, having fun, getting out of the house, and doing good work. All outweigh the politics of national organizations.
Back to the Shenanigans:
Of course they wanted to make it a competition. But I did notice that not all. There were a few, off to the side, that wanted more to make it an art project. So both happened. There was paint, and colored duck tape. And imagination.
Everyone had watched the video. The task was not complex. But the team organization was left for them to decide on their own. Some broke the tasks down to an assembly line. Some worked in ones or twos, deciding on the aesthetics before construction. It was pretty much a free-for-all. I do credit the ‘leaders’ for not getting in the way of spontaneity.
In the end, it only took half a day to produce 80 fan boxes. All neatly stacked and ready to deliver. Lunch was homemade tacos and delivered pizza. And the scouts were proud and hungry.
To Notice:
All this took was an idea gently placed in the hands of some great kids. They did the work. Yes, it was a couple of adults that hustled the credit union for funding. But that only took one conversation with a willing institution.
Act locally.
Walk around your neighborhood.
Find just one small need and solve it locally.
Ask others to help.
Don't ask permission.
Then take that organizing base and solve another.
This could be decentralized and locally run.
Screw the policies and the politics.
There are many tools that we can use to accomplish this. The most important is the dignity of work. Give a person a job that matters to their family and friends. They will change the world.