Eco-conscious home builder, John Garlow, is turning a 40-foot-long
by 8-feet-wide metal rectangular box into a living and working
space for a non-profit organization that's working to bring clean drinking
water to people in Haiti.
"We spray-foamed the ceiling and painted the inside and
outside with an insulating paint. It reflects so much light. This box is going
to be quite a bit cooler just because of the insulation," Garlow said.
The unit includes sustainable features like a system that
catches and filters rainwater for drinking. It was developed by the West
Virginia University
student group Engineers Without Borders.
Garlow is also using a new kind of peel and stick solar
panel that will cover part of the container's roof.
"We can produce, with what I'm sending down there,
about 3,000 watts of power per day. Now here, that doesn't sound like a lot,"
said Garlow. "But down there in Haiti,
they don't have anything to compare it to. They've got hydroelectric power in Haiti,
but maybe for an hour a day. It's scarce."
Garlow says he donated money to the American Red Cross after
the earthquake, but he wanted to do more.
"I wanted to do something and then these students from George
Washington University
called me up and they saw my website where I'm trying to do these off the grid modulars, and they said 'this would
be perfect for Haiti.'
And I said 'well, maybe', but you can't ship a modular down there. They're not
designed to be shipped on a boat."
So Garlow came up with the idea of turning an old shipping
container into a sustainable shelter.
And he bought the container—like the one you see on barges
or tractor trailers—for about $5,000 from a local man who owns about 50 of
them.
"The Chinese and the Indonesians and some other country
over there that we buy lots of stuff from, you know, cheap labor, they build
them over there, fill 'em full of stuff and send them over here and then we end
up with the containers that are sitting around rusting," said Garlow.
"Some people in this country have been trying to turn
them into usable structures, but it doesn't quite fit the American idea; it's
more like a little clubhouse than a house. Down there in Haiti,
I think they'll really appreciate this. They won't say 'oh, this won't fit my
furniture.' They're going to say 'hey, this is earthquake proof, this is
hurricane proof.' It's basic shelter."
Garlow offered to retrofit the shipping container as a sort
of pilot project and to see what it would cost to build more. He thinks it will
cost around $15,000 in material alone to convert additional containers.
The container will soon be on its way to Haiti
where the non-profit group, Water Missions, will use it to help bring
clean drinking water to Haitians.
Before the container is sent to Haiti,
though, it's being filled with donated items from the Morgantown
community, including wheelchairs and crutches, building supplies and even a
bicycle powered generator.
After the unit gets through customs, Garlow will fly to Haiti
to install the various components.
Volunteers are hosting an open house Saturday and Sunday afternoons
at Marilla Park
in Morgantown where people can see
the structure and offer donations.