Moving on, what I want to talk about this evening is PE-HD (High Density Polyethylene to the uninitiated). What an amazing material! I can't believe that I've been consigning so many tons of it to recycle (Council euphemism for landfill) for so many years. I'll never throw a scrap away again, I promise!
So where do you get this wonderful material? For a ready supply, check your fridge. PE-HD is what your typical plastic milk cartons are made of. Next time you are about to throw away a plastic milk carton, try this instead: Wash it and cut out as many flat panels as you can. Now think what you can do with this stock. You can bend or fold it and it doesn't crack. You can cut or staple it and it doesn't tear. It doesn't like conventional "glues" but it is happy with double-sided adhesive tape and sticky fixers, etc.
What led me to this personal discovery was the need to devise a helmet-mounted harness for my mobile phone. I'm doing a sponsored abseil for the Severn Area Rescue Association this weekend and I thought it might be a good idea to grab some 3GP video on the way down. The milk-carton PE-HD was the perfect solution. It was so easy to make a stong and secure custom phone case with PE-HD and a few staples. It's everything Origami should have been but never was.
What can you do with yours?
