I've been stockpiling cardboard and bought the ingredients for the waterproof coating to try this out.
obviously comrades are down for whatever, but I think if we can get a decent system going for this, this is something even church groups would be into doing โ in my experience, they really seem to prefer actually doing a thing themselves over just giving the money to the people doing genuinely helpful work.
an immediate issue I see with this is vulnerability to insect damage and flammability. I got some boric acid earlier this spring to make hornet traps, and reading that natopedia article taught me that it is used not just as an insecticide but also to make things inflammable, two incredibly useful purposes for this particular application. some of the comments of the video indicate that others thought of this as well, so I feel like this is worth pursuing.
are any of you chemists or otherwise have knowledge that would be helpful for figuring out how much boric acid to add to this mixture as a starting point? I have some applications around my farm that I can use to test the insecticidal part, and obviously the combustibility is easy to test. I just have no idea where to start with an effective amount to mix in without completely fucking the other necessary attributes (spreadability etc) of the mixture.
sorry that I didn't make it clear, I wasn't suggesting this as permanent housing or a replacement for other things like tents, but more as a supplemental way to deal with temperature extremes.
the same channel has been working on recipes for cooling paint and has made an effective one, which could make well-ventilated shelters painted with that genuinely life-saving. and obviously layers of cardboard offer more insulation from a deep freeze than a tent, and a sturdy shelter with a steep roof will stand up better to a lot of snow than a tent would.