SOLVING BIG PROBLEMS ONE SMALL DAY AT A TIME
PRECIOUS PLASTICS PROJECT UPDATE
Stepping into Diyode I had the distinct impression of entering a toy shop. I swear I could smell elf-sweat in the air.
Turns out, I wasn’t that far off.
On a table in the very back of the building, surrounded by machines that clunked and thunked and went grrraaccckk! were three well intentioned labourers, huddled and hard at work. Juliet, the daughter of one she calls Simon, Simon, and Liam.
In the middle, between them, stood a machine that looked like Tin Man’s spare parts bin.
“We’re turning it on today,” Simon reported with glee. It took a second for me to realize that he was referring to It. Chompy. The Shredder.
“Hot dog!” I exclaimed. “I’m here for it’s inaugural chew!”
I couldn’t believe my luck, and none of them corrected my assumption.
(For those of you who have yet to read THIS ARTICLE, the TL;DR of what Simon’s up to goes like this: Simon has partnered with Diyode and Olive Tree Projects to bring handbuilt machinery to Jacmel, Haiti, where Sarah Wallace, founder of Olive Tree Projects Maternity Center and Foster Home, will connect Simon with locals who are seeking sustainable work. Simon, Sarah, & friends will install a recycling depot that will take local plastic waste and turn it into other plastic products that can be used and sold. They’re calling it their Precious Plastics project.)
After many months of setbacks that include (but are not limited to)…
- Rebuilding #allthethings
- Motors being too weak
- Never enough torque
- Re-engineering key components to the system (if not the shredder specifically) like the extractor
- Re-machining threads
…Simon is nearing the next phase: implementation.
Jacmel, Haiti — here Simon comes!
Seven individuals have helped Simon get this far. Eva and Liam, who you’ve already met, and Pete, to name a few. Their unflagging support has left Simon flabbergasted. He was sure his collaborators would have given up by now.
“But I guess you throw people a good challenge and they want to figure it out,” he rationalized aloud.
And it’s not just Diyode members who are pitching in to help. Their offspring are as well.
When I asked Juliet what she thought about everything she levelled Simon with a glance, and then grinned wickedly.
“Juliet’s running fundraisers at her school,” Simon explained on his daughter’s behalf. “A bake sale, and she’s distributing flyers for Olive Tree’s big fundraising event.”
“Baking’s more my thing,” Juliet explained beneath an awesome shock of popsicle-coloured hair. “I like using fondant to make cakes.”
“Epic cakes,” Simon elaborated.
(Juliet’s accompanying Simon to Jacmel. She’s going to help set up the recycling depot, and will impart her epic baking skillz to Sarah’s foster family while she’s there.)
So, with a second pulley installed to give it the torque it needs to shred, and a custom plastic window installed at the side so you can see its hungry teeth in action, Simon called for a silence amongst us. Chompy was ready.
It was time.
A few short seconds after saying Go! Chompy said, No, thank you, I’d rather not (watch the video and see). But for a glorious moment, before Chompy clamped shut its stubborn teeth, it had worked! The green plastic bottle Simon had tossed in had shattered to bits, and shreds of it sat in the container beneath the shredder.
Liam, who machined the shredder’s custom two-part pulley system that’s photographed below, stroked his beard and peered into the shredder’s funnel.
“Hrrmmm,” Liam and Simon grumbled in harmony, and then muttered to one another about what might be broken.
Juliet heckled her father, and looked curiously on.
“Are the teeth going like this?” Liam imitated waves with his hands. “I think they need to.”
Simon nodded, and set about trying to make the machine work. Neither was made ecstatic by their success, and neither was daunted by the setback. It was their ten millionth inflection point already, and it was far from being their last.
Before braving the blustery drive home, I had one more million dollar question to ask.
“So. Next stop, Jacmel. How are you getting it all down there?”
“We’re going to carry it.”
“Oh dear.”
“We’re flying with Air Transat, and each person can carry two 50lbs cases. Each shredder’s about 25lbs, the motor is 40lbs, and the other bits are about 5 or 6lbs. We won’t be bringing much else with us. Though I may have to bring along the plasma cutter for cutting stainless steel. We’ll be forging the stand when we get there. Yah, it should all fit.”
It should all fit… The pieces that are going with Simon, that is.
Some of the other pieces, like the extractor, will be flown down at a later date. But that’s another problem for another day. And if witnessing the development of this project has taught me one thing, it’s the importance of taking things one step at a time.
So. Next step: make the teeth bite good. Then onto the next problem. Because let’s face it, there’s probably going to be a gazillion more that crop up between now and when Simon and his family board the plane to Jacmel. But that’s how big problems get solved. By fixing them one small day at a time.
Diyode has raised $3200 of their $7000 target. You can help them reach their target by donating.
The Olive Tree Projects big fundraiser event was a great success!
This comes as massive relief following a plea for much-needed assistance delivered this past November:
