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Mattress Sterilization Project Because every Child Deserves a Bed

Mattress Sterilization Project Because every Child Deserves a Bed. Founder of The Wish Project Goods Bank. Provide free home and baby goods to the poor through reuse 15,000 sq ft warehouse in Lowell, MA 30,000 people/year $1million in value of: Clothing Furniture Baby gear Bedding

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Mattress Sterilization Project Because every Child Deserves a Bed

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  1. Mattress Sterilization ProjectBecause every Child Deserves a Bed

  2. Founder of The Wish Project Goods Bank • Provide free home and baby goods to the poor through reuse • 15,000 sq ft warehouse in Lowell, MA • 30,000 people/year • $1million in value of: • Clothing • Furniture • Baby gear • Bedding • Appliances • Electronics • Dishes, towels, lamps • Sheets and blankets

  3. Our Problem • Shortage of used mattresses to give to our local poor families. This is a national problem. For more information contact: the National Furniture Bank Association Facts are based on our involvement with this group over the past 5 yrs. www.help1up.org

  4. Many furniture bankspick up from homes. We DO NOT • Low quality • Very expensive ($100/hour) • Dangerous for staff So where do we get 1,000 mattresses each year ?

  5. Hotel Remodels • Higher quality than home mattresses • Large quantities 100-200 at one time • Full, Queen and King sized • Colleges and Military Bases for Twin sized

  6. Expensive Problem is Solution for Us • 6.3 million hotel mattresses 4.2 million hotel rooms with 1.5 beds per room according to the American Hotel & Lodging Associations (AH&LA) • 2 million dorm beds (military base beds?)

  7. Obstacles to Reusing Mattresses? • Perceived Vs. Real • No legal issues • Ethical imperative not to make lives worse for our clients • Provide them in good condition

  8. Perceived Problem: Bed bugs • Are commonly found • Many clients are coming to us because of infestations • Bedbugs do not cause disease • They are hard to kill compared to other pests • Best treatment is heat

  9. Real Problem: The poor have high rates of illness, asthma and allergies • Dust mites cause allergic reactions • Cockroaches get inside appliances and small crevices • Lice are pervasive • Mice, and spiders and other bugs cause disease directly or indirectly

  10. Our Goal • To set a new standard for mattress reuse by having *all donations go into the truck for heat sterilization - before coming into the warehouse • Goal date? June 1, 2014. * With the exception of heat sensitive new items like diapers, formula, toothpaste etc.

  11. Most of our clients are children • Saige, Age 5, waiting for heart transplant

  12. Thermal Vs. Chemical Remediation • Heat is faster for large scale treatment: 2 tons of goods in 4 hours • Heat is safer: No residual chemicals • Effective: Heat kills all stages of bugs at once. Chemicals only kill adults, not eggs.

  13. Kills bugs and their eggs

  14. How hot? How long? • 120 degrees F for 4 hours to kill the eggs

  15. Our solution?The Mattress Sterilization Project • Funded by the MA DEP to help reduce mattresses that go into landfills • Design is by Lori Schmiege of Caritas Furniture Bank in VA • We scaled up 24’ truck version to a 45’ trailer version

  16. This is a new project. Please forgive our mockup drawings. Our truck is coming April 18!

  17. First Challenge: How to get the donations into the truck?

  18. Modified for use at the warehouse 45’ Insulated Truck Building Wall Connections for Trailer to Truck for Transport

  19. Flip-Down Lift out Shelving and Rolling Steel Carts

  20. Purchased a 45’ long x 10’ by 8’ Insulated Trailer for large scale heat treatment • Cut and installed 8’ garage door in the side • Installed lift gates, side and rear

  21. Heat In:Propane or Natural Gas1 Million BTU heater

  22. Heat Out: Vent In the Front of Truck 45 foot long truck Yes we want to reclaim this heat during the winter. That is a future goal.

  23. Thermocouple Network for Monitoring Ensures Proper Heating throughout the entire load

  24. Mobile to go to hotels or collegesWe hire semi/tractor drivers to move it when needed(Easy: We have been doing this for many years with other trailers)

  25. Volunteer Friendly Design for Zero Waste Days Front Right Side Left Side Back

  26. Helping hotels too, because disposal is expensive • Recycling: $9,000 cost for lot of 180 mattresses • 360 pieces x $25/piece to recycle • Dumpster: ~$5,000 • Reuse:$600 in trucking fees • Trucking is a tax write off • 1 hotel = 180 mattresses • 2 truckloads (90 mattress sets/truck) • $300 x 2 trucks

  27. Large Scale Sterilization: 4 hours60 Full sized mattress sets or28 Couches or 70 chairs in One Heat Cycle2 Tons per cycle

  28. Our Goal = Happy Clients and A Better Planet

  29. Thanks to….

  30. Questions?

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