My name is Hank Womble and I want to make plastic more precious. I studied product design at Auburn University (Auburn, Alabama USA) and found a passion for doing design projects (http://hankwomble.wixsite.com/portfolio). Working and thinking to solve problems to help others is so rewarding to me. I never knew exactly what I would apply my skills to after university but I knew I wanted to create real change with my designs. During Summer of 2016 I was an exhibit design intern for a museum in Birmingham, AL and I first encountered Dave’s Precious Plastic videos for the first time. I can’t explain why, but as I heard and saw what this project was all about, I was immediately struck with a flare of passion as if it was speaking directly to my heart. I couldn’t ignore it. Using the small amount of money I had (with ample help from my parents) I began constructing the shredder.
The shredder was coming together when university started back and I knew it was going to be difficult to complete the PP machines while doing design school work (It’s a lot). Optimistically, I told my studio professor that I would be able to manufacture my final product for the first project of the semester out of recycled plastic using machines I built: Great idea right? Only problem is that I hadn’t yet begun the injection machine. After 2 weeks of overcoming problems like converting metric to imperial (screw imperial), buying sketchy electronics online and figuring out what the hell DOM tubing was/where to get it, I finally had what I thought would be a functional machine. Alas, when I needed it most, my creation failed and I felt like a failure. Embarrassment followed when telling my studio professor that I couldn’t complete the machine and I had to switch to a “less cool” project. I finished my last two semesters with the ghost of that project haunting me.
For several reasons, forgetting that passion and moving on was the best move for that time but the passion still lingered inside. Following graduation, I took a year long internship at a campus ministry (my current gig) to learn how to better love people and to take a year to figure out what’s next for me. While in a coffee shop, Dave’s update video found my computer and again I was inspired once again to continue with Precious Plastic. I thought about the possibilities for positive environmental and economic change that is already in motion in the city of Birmingham. Is this me? Do I have what it takes to bring this to Birmingham in an effective way?
I’m reaching out to all of you because I don’t want to do this alone and it’s really hard to explain to people here. Along with telling my story, I had a couple of questions as someone who wants to launch Precious Plastic in Birmingham, AL:
-Does anyone do PP as a full time thing? Are people generating enough revenue to support themselves? Or is it a project usually done parallel with another job?
-Are there any solo PP players? I currently don’t have any partners. Should I get one? How?
-(Open ended question alert) What should I do now? I finish my Internship with the campus ministry in May. What would you do in my situation? Build another machine? Devote time to finding a partner and funding? Learn how to weld?
Thank you all for being awesome and chasing this dream. You are all making the world a better place and I can’t wait to join you doing it
Hi @hankwomble… thanks for sharing your story. I will try to help where possible as I can somewhat relate to your dilemma – having studied ID, becoming overly aware of the power an ID’er has in contributing to the trash we see today, inspiration explosion from the Precious Plastic movement and then trying everything I can to get myself moving with the machines in the direction I was pulled.
What I did after studying was get my welding skills up to scratch with a short internship alongside a machine builder… following that I got a part-time contract with my old university which allowed me access to all their machinery. It has been during this time I’ve had the chance to experiment and adapt the machines to be built with local materials.
I’ve now come to a point where I realize that even with the machines, we need to work together with other designers or people who are wanting to tackle similar problems. Doing this solo is rather lonely (not to mention extremely consuming)… and while there’s and entire online community, finding the motivation within can be hard when beautiful products, money or a sense of comradery are lacking.
If I were in your shoes I would try put some time into welding – it will always be a valuable skill when working with these machines… but if not that then reach out or spend some time with other PP players… finish your shredder and maybe build the injection machine to begin tests and hold tactile evidence.
It seems there are some pretty successful collaborative start-ups around the world who are proving that using these machines to make valuable products can definitely be a means of living… which is hugely inspiring
“Hi @hankwomble… thanks for sharing your story. I will try to help where possible as I can somewhat relate to your dilemma – having studied ID, becoming overly aware of the power an ID’er has in contributing to the trash we see today, inspiration explosion from the Precious Plastic movement and then trying everything I can to get myself moving with the machines in the direction I was pulled. What I did after studying was get my welding skills up to scratch with a short internship alongside a machine builder… following that I got a part-time contract with my old university which allowed me access to all their machinery. It has been during this time I’ve had the chance to experiment and adapt the machines to be built with local materials. I’ve now come to a point where I realize that even with the machines, we need to work together with other designers or people who are wanting to tackle similar problems. Doing this solo is rather lonely (not to mention extremely consuming)… and while there’s and entire online community, finding the motivation within can be hard when beautiful products, money or a sense of comradery are lacking. If I were in your shoes I would try put some time into welding – it will always be a valuable skill when working with these machines… but if not that then reach out or spend some time with other PP players… finish your shredder and maybe build the injection machine to begin tests and hold tactile evidence. It seems there are some pretty successful collaborative start-ups around the world who are proving that using these machines to make valuable products can definitely be a means of living… which is hugely inspiring”
Aw shucks… I wrote a really long and involved response to your post and it seems to have been lost in the ether :c
To just touch on my conclusion… I think you should try work on your welding, it will always be a valuable set of skills when using these machines (not to say your welding is bad).
It would also be really useful to get in touch or visit some functioning PP’ers… there are number of collective groups around the world that are proving that making great products from recycled material can definitely be a means of living, which is super inspiring.
I’m a bit bummed my original response got lost, I put a lot into writing it. I hope this brief and blunt reply helps somewhat
