Homemade P.I.E.

Homemade P.I.E. is our version of "open sourcing" ideas (P.I.E. = Public Idea Engine).  We think of various ideas all the time, but they don't do any good in our heads.  So this is where we catalog them, begin to hash them out, and open the door for our friends to pick them up and run with them ...

Agriculture

Operation Food Search (STL) + Operation Brightside (fill up one trash bag of roadside trash to earn your free lunch - as "he who does not work shall not eat.")

Emil's Piggies - sell piglets for backyard composting (and investment!) - called "the mortgage lifter" just a few generations ago due to easy profit potential... see Novella Carpenter's "Farm City"...

Food

Midnight Kitchens - rent USDA certified kitchens in off-hours to produce value-added ag products for urban smallholders... (e.g. baked goods, canned goods, etc) to connect franchises who are likely losing market interest with preferred demographics with up-trending green / DIY demographic...

Old Mountain Peppermint Iced Tea - grow peppermint and make refreshing summer tea with Missouri spring water...

Interstate Coffee Company - using chicory roots from plants along rural highways (like Cafe du Monde)... - see also:  https://www.chicoryusa.com/  and YouTube video of chicory coffee making

Health

Barefoot Sand Tracks - where people can run / walk barefoot in the city (which most podiatrists would recommend as there are many pressure points on your feet, and not good to keep them always wrapped up in shoes...) - combine with sand volleyball courts... (see Volleyball Beach - Martin City, MO)

Old Church Gyms - rebuild old St Louis churches (or install weight room in basements of operational churches), and then create strong people with good hearts...

Commercial

Unpackaged Resale Shop - buy goods direct from manufacturer in bulk and with no packaging - then resell to consumers who can't stand all the waste in packaging in "CostCo" buyers' club type facility...  ALSO community block purchases (bulk buys & deliveries)...

US Debt Fix - sell AK to UK / Canada, sell HI to Taiwan

Urine > urea --- source from breweries (uses for urine )

Bellwether Analytics - MDK employs "average guy" perspective and "window theory of economics" to forecast trends in the marketplace (as average guys are at the heart of major market bell curves) - could also be blog / newsletter to pump related investments (as others do)...

We break the tension between what DOES sell (vices) and what SHOULD sell (virtues) as we only work on good stuff, and leave the bad stuff to others.

Woods Devil Terra Packs - various pre-packed preppers "bug-out bags" for various situations:  blue (water);  green (land);  red (fire)...  (or call them Duff's Duffel Bags...!)

St. Louis French Bidet Company - be local seller of bidets to waste stream (and hygiene) conscientious folks...  see this CBS news report on toilet paper! 

Gyroscopic Recliner... (or just LaZ Boys with laptops at coffee bars)

"Rent-a-Renter" - compliments of John Mervyn McGeown

Break the Chains - research to identify and boycott and break up national chains or franchises, as well as research to identify critical supply chains and offer simpler alternative solutions (in line with KISS theory)

business ideas from the "sharing economy"

International Case Studies from Thunderbird School of Global Mgmt

Construction

"Tin Can Roofs" & Re-purposed glass / wine bottle candles - use old soup can bottoms & sides for roofing material (as seen on garden shacks seen in VA...) - they look great rusted.    --- see also:  Green Exchange

BioChar for home water filtration...  soil conditioner (see also Wakefield Farms, Ag Carbon...)

North St Louis Blacksmiths - pair with Shapiro Metals, Marr, PSC, Wallach, S Broadway (and drayage to river barge traffic) as good re-entry trade for ex-convicts - which adds to STL manufacturing and recycling (reach out to faith-based prison ministries) - talk to Missouri School of Blacksmithing

Natural Parking Lots - use terrace design methodologies on parking lots - SEE ALSO KAILASH ECOVILLAGE (PDX) UNPAVE PROJECT

Natural General Contractors - using draft animal earthmovers and hand tools to reduce exposure to international supply chain, and make work more beneficial

Dutch Flats - CMU block structures (or Cob-built) with MO Storm Shutters and "Green Climbing Walls"....

STL Water Walls - as 1" clear tubed water lines looped approx 1' apart (as in radiant flooring) on exterior south facing walls

E & H Farm & Home - general contractor

Pangaea Puzzle Factory  - a coffee shop with a printing press where folks can bring photos to make puzzles out of, and then put half-finished puzzles on "cookie tray" pan carts to finish later, which would encourage guests to return as patrons (and pictures say 1000 words)...

Real Estate

Silent Springs Monasteries - create places where people can go to get away from overstimulation - like repurposed prisons in S Korea, and dopamine fasts in Silicon Valley where only sign language is practiced - see also FACILITIES FOR THE DEAF (Moog Ctr for Deaf - STL MO)...

Old Potters Fields - alt. to cemeteries using accessible / readable buckets with journals and memorabilia... anything is better than current cemeteries...

Block Buy-Outs - don't buy a lot, buy the whole  block

St. Louis Public School Buildings + Folk School Alliance - repurposed old STL schools into microshops for animal fat candles, pottery, metalworks, woodworks (handles, tools, furniture), leather (shoes & belts, harnesses & dog leash/ collars), pig soap, foodstuffs, etc) with weekend sales "Open Houses" in old gyms, cafeterias...  

          SEE SLPS PROPERTIES HERE!   

          SEE BRC PARTNERS HERE!

          * see related case study from The Greenwood School (VT) - where Climb So Ill demonstrated products...

re-branding St Louis neighborhoods / wards to reflect present characteristics (e.g. Princeton Heights as "Permaculture Village") - as easy as just putting up signs...

"Horizon Developments" - horizon is about 3 miles away for 6 foot tall person - makes for good run, or feasible to develop everything one can see in a 28.26 square mile area (Area of circle w/ radius 3 mi)

Green Home Depot - same layout, same products, just used (not new) & green (not orange) - tap support of ReStore - see article here on "sluggish demand" 

ActiveVillages - active living communities (w/ ziplines, running paths, horses, treehouses ... ) - see Missouri's Caveman Zipline  ---  see also "Tiny Home" ActiVillage 

Transports

Pilot Fish Transit (> talk to SMART cars) - include 1) Tool Box, 2) Grocery Cart, 3) Bike, 4) hitches & trailers, 5) Snap-On flexibility ("fish bone, snap-on, modular design that facilitates "last mile" of trip... helps provide security for seniors, women, kids, handicapped, vulnerable populations... weather... "coordinated / collaborative independence"... talk to Tom Blair and Federal Highway Administration; Taulby Roach (CEO of Bi-State Devpt) and Dr Rodrigo Reis (Wash U Brown School Master of Public Health re: "Designing Communities")

STL-X Bridges (ziplines over busy intersections) - talk to Steve Donohue at Horner-Shifrin - after all, the risk of dying on adventure course is same as over traffic...

anti-HWY: no city growth limits are to blame for bad traffic and crazy highway systems;  see UK article here:  Bury the Roads! 

Uber + bicycle racks - for the last mile of your trip (works great on RideKC buses

(see also:  Eco Adventure Ziplines (New Florence MO) -  Zip Line USA (Reeds Spring MO) - Branson Zipline at Wolfe Mountain - Union Station, Hidden Valley Ski Resort, etc)

Sporting Loo - need to sweat regularly - and better to sweat doing something purposeful (no just on a stationary bike) so w/ Sporting Loo, why not bike/run to work???

Scissor-trailers - faux trailer - even canoe trailer... bamboo trailer on wheels?.... just to keep tailgaters at bay....! (also "Dragon's Mane" = long glow-the-dark reflective "crepe paper"-like strips that flow 50-100' behind vehicle to discourage crowding)

telescopic parking extenders

roll-top car doors (to eliminate banging into other cars, opening into street, etc)

import small rare foreign cars - Alfa Romeo, FIAT, etc (maybe just in New England)? - locate at college campuses...

roll-up auto covers attached to rear bumper (to protect cars that park on streets)

GLOBE MIRRORS (or retractable triangles) mounted to front of vehicle (to see around objects parked in front of you so you don't have to nose into street)

talk to:

University of Michigan - Dept of ME - Auto Lab Strategic Vision for "Common Good" (!) - suggest "Unified Vision" integrating an interdisciplinary best practices of ALL UM departments (urban planning, natural resources, engineering, etc.) - which would likely lead to minimal technology and small "village-based" towns. See also: Past UM President Shapiro's "smaller but better" motto on UM's "Past President's" web page...

https://electrameccanica.com/ - Solo - the single person car

Gravity (or hydraulic)-based Traffic Control Devices - operate like cuckoo clocks (instead of powered lights) and get powered by rolling traffic at intersection! (hydraulic hose pumps up to red with lots of traffic, and then deflates to green as slows down!) - see also compressed air power (tires over pump to power traffic signals?) 

"Tailgate Texts" - using LED digital message bar hooked up to inverter connected to car electrical system (to talk to other drivers saying stay back / caution / or advertising new business...) - but could get stolen so need to remove when parking...

Horse & Buggy Supply (work with Amish / Mennonites to get ready for this) - when SHTF, bikes & horses will be in demand...

also consider in relation to this combining horse routes with bike paths and trails in the region (see Rails to Trails Conservancy, Trailnet, and Great Rivers Greenway...) - as supply chain for "horse and buggy" operation is just another horse...

rebrand Gas Stations (dba Good House LLC) as places to get basic goods / non-perishable essentials & beneficials (not an assortment of vices - booze, cigs, crap food, lottery tickets)

tell AASHTO and the USDOT to embrace "Turtle v Hare" - a la SLOW FOOD movement: see also: AASHTO president Patrick McKenna's priorities

Mobile STL-X Crossings - even across busy mall parking lots and crazy intersections - can be like crane walks or rope bridges etc - get fun & creative (cross-train)...

see also: Army Combat Engineering - emergency bridge crossings...

        "Ropes Course" at St Louis' Union Station (as designed by Bob O'Loughlin's Lodging Hospitality Mgmt) - find designer

        rope bridge in Children's garden at Missouri Botanical Garden - find designer?

Road Kill CleanUp Trailers dba Fresh Kills Removal - as in rural areas there is a LOT of roadkill that just lays on the roads forever ... subcontracted to Street Depts... supported by PETA and Animal Welfare folks... make prototype, demonstrate it works, then sell to Street Depts / MO DOT...

see also: NRCS Conservation Practice 316 "Animal Mortality Facility" - dba "Mobile Animal Mortality Facility"?

UBER bicycle rickshaws - combined hi-tech / low-tech that allows one to order rickshaw service from phone (good to alleviate traffic, parking congestion, good exercise) - locate in urban hoods near popular breweries and apartments (to keep drunks off streets)...

Wildlife Highway Crossings - microtunnels & rope bridges... talk to Federal Highway Administration - locate south of Columbia around State Parks and C.A.'s

Missouri Houseboat Company - build houseboats out of bamboo - with wood stoves - regular motors (converted from lawn mowers?) - paddle wheelers? - or build houseboat tugs (so houseboats don't need motors) - plus all types of related "floating shorebuildings"

        see also Cooper's Landing

        see example: New Zealand Open Houseboat

        see article on upcoming Mississippi riverboat tours: Viking Tours, American Queen Steamboat Co, Arnold Donald's Carnival Cruises...

build "transitional neighborhood parking garages" on outer perimeters of decent neighborhoods, paired with " ready to go" bike & trailers, to prepare for getting cars out of neighborhoods (garages converted to rentals or guest cottages, while neighborhood garages ultimately convert to mixed use or warehouse / retail space (imports / exports)....

"fly tape" or "bug zappers" for car roof interiors (example:  fly tape "Little Trees"?  ceiling dome light bug zapper?)

Waste Management

Composite "zero waste" recycling:  

NB:  talk to city, state, and federal legislators and see if they can identify & prioritize "market needs" (through BBB, SBA ... OpenAI), then give tax credit to entrepreneurs who address those select market needs.

Some crowdfunding options:

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." Colossians 3:23