Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Floodwall Sponsorship

Floodwall sacks containing various emergency relief products
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This would be a system of filled plastic sacks to be used as a portable floodwall. Each sack would be filled with a heavy material at bottom (cement or plaster), filler, neutrally buoyant material in the middle, and buoyant material at top, so it rights itself and is easily installed even in an area already filled with water. The sack would be floppy but stable until you activated the hardening properties of what are in the buoyant and heavy parts of the sack: styrofoam and plaster (or cement), respectively. The middle part of the bag would be filled with flood supplies such as food or medical supplies, but the idea would be that it is a sponsored product. Products can take advantage of the heat from chemical reactions in the other parts of the sack. I don't know about styrofoam but I know that plaster does heat up in the process of curing to a hard state.

But the means of motivating the production of these products is marketing: each sack is produced and sponsored a given company, and the filler material of the sack is filled with whatever their product is. For example, you'd have a Nescafe sack that would be filled with coffee crystals and water (no floodwater coffee for me please). Ziplock bags of coffee mugs would be on the dry side of the bag. To make a batch of coffee you'd activate the sack's hardening process. Nescafe would probably want to ensure that their sack would be next to a sponsor that offers self-rising biscuits, like Pilsbury.

Suggestions on other possible sponsors would be great.

willcapellaro, Sep 23 2005

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       Fishbone, sorry. I think this is just going to get in the way of the essential job of getting sandbags (which are dirt cheap, literally) to where they are needed, as fast as poss. If each one has to be broken open and goods distributed, it will slow things down horrendously.
moomintroll, Sep 23 2005
  

       That's why it's a half-baked idea, but I do concede that you're probably right. I thought it would appeal to corporations seeking advertising more than anyone overseeing an emergency relief effort. The pitch to these companies would be that they would be getting the best PR possible, that their company is looking out for the flood victims in a time of dire need. Although it's going to increase the cost of individual bags incredibly and likely require a different method of deployment, I think it's good to think of how corporations can contribute to such efforts in a gesture of good will. Not meant as primary method of flood control.
willcapellaro, Sep 26 2005
  

       ii thought htis was going to be like the "adopt a highway" program but instead would have been 'adopt a flood barrier'
schmendrick, Sep 26 2005
  
      
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