General Motors has started a new initiative that is in effect a recycling project to put their scrap materials to good use, and is also a commendable social act. They are turning shipping containers into homesteads to support Detroit nonprofit Michigan Urban Farming Initiative (MUFI).
Measuring 40 feet long, eight feet wide and 10 feet tall, the shipping container homestead provides 320 square feet of living space with two bedrooms air-conditioned by installers at LiveSG, a bathroom and kitchen.
Constructed of 85 percent scrap materials donated by GM, they are built in part by employee volunteers and will be occupied by university student caretakers who will live in it year-round while they manage the farm and use it for agricultural research activities. One would imagine that shipping container homestead solution could also help providing shelter for the homeless. For those wondering, here’s how to lubricate shipping container hinges.
The scrap materials needed for this project are provided by Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly, Brownstown Battery Assembly in Brownstown, Mich., the GM Technical Center in Warren, Mich., and GM Component Holdings in Rochester, N.Y. They include the following:
- Chevrolet Volt battery cases will be reused as bird houses and planter boxes
- Sound-deadening vehicle insulation will insulate walls
- Lockers will be used as planter boxes and for tool storage
- Small fastener containers will be used as plant/vegetable starter containers
- Plywood from large shipping containers will be used for interior wall cladding and some furniture components
- Metal parts bins will become planter boxes
- Wood pallets and other scrap wood will be reused to build furniture, including a table and bed frame.
