12-year-old Makes Homeless Shelter from Trash

Well, this is a bit of fresh air, especially with tween news like Baby-Faced Boy Alfie Patten Is Dad At 13.

12-year-old Max Wallack stole the show at Design Squad’s Trash to Treasure contest with his “Home Dome.” The contest asked kids to repurpose trash into practical inventions.

I wonder if the Home Dome gets an honorable LEED Certification?

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The dome provides shelter for the homeless and is made from plastic, wire, packing peanuts, and flargstin. Pretty much, trash.

The trash-plex looks like a Mongolian yurt, and let Max walk away with $10,000 and a Dell laptop. He also got a trip to Boston out of it. But Max had this to say, “I don’t really care about the money. I care about helping people.”

This isn’t his first big win. “When I was six,” Max said, “I won an invention contest that included a trip to Chicago. While there, I saw homeless people living on streets, and beneath highways and underpasses. I felt very sorry for these people, and ever since then, felt that my goal and obligation was to find a way to help them. My invention improves the living conditions for homeless people, refugees, or disaster victims by giving them easy-to-assemble shelter.”

Go Max! We all look forward to your future inventions.

Source and Photo:  thedesignblog.org

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193 Comments

  1. You know, adding a bit of Satire to a piece brings out the best in situations. Get over it, it’s funny and informing.

  2. opps.. my post about ‘finding it all amusing’.. was supposed to be on the 10 most ironic LEED ceritfied buildings comments.. and I don’t know how to get it back there..

  3. yurt is the universal name, but is known as Ger. The makers, Mongols have been using Ger for centuries.

  4. How will this help deforestation unless the pallets are used again for what they were originally intended, therefore reducing the number of NEW pallets being made? Recycling them is great. But I dont understand how it will help our great forests simply by taking them from the truck headed for the dump and using them for something else. This will not change the number of pallets needed in the future. … just fyi

  5. I love the humor!

  6. Saw the article on thepallet houses. What is the guy website?

  7. I will be using this info one day to make a nice little storage shed for our home, well my husband will at least. Probably one for his mom as well. We pickup pallets and shipping crates from the industrial buildings near where he works all the time to use for things. Some of them are absolutely beautiful pieces. We’ve made wagons, toy chests and planters out of them already.

  8. [...] We should all strive to raise kids with half as much thought for other people as this 12 year old. Read this story Share and [...]

  9. Creative re-use of pallets. However, in my industry, shippers and businesses re use and repair pallets. Many shippers demand an equal exchange of pallets for the number of pallets of product delivered. When surplus pallets accrue, there are other businesses that bid to buy your surplus, and of course, there are thieves out there who will steal any stack of pallets they see. Good of you to advise people to ask permission before taking pallets!

  10. Talk, Talk, Talk. If you are waiting on people’s good will and descensy to kick in, you’ll be left out in the cold.
    You want something to change? Focus on the cost. The majority of us would rather pay less then save the environment. (Now think about it before you say ‘Not me’).
    Those few of you who care more about the environment than spending less money out of pocket are as numerous as black voters who voted for John McCain. You are a very small minority. (No pun intended).
    NOW, how do you have your cake and eat it too? Make environmental friendly ’stuff’ cheap.
    No one cares whether it’s wrong or right. We’re Americans. You want our attention, tell us how we can save money by doing it you way.

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