Essentially, this type of community is a social experiment to see how well westerners can survive without traditional shelter and electricity. While solar power has been mentioned in this blog before as part of a solar carport system, this version of solar power is associated with the modern and typical system of living. In the case of the eco village mentioned here, solar carports aren’t going to be in the picture. Tarps, as an appropriate way of shelter, are.

As this blog is dedicated to tarps and structures, such as portable garages, involving polyethylene tarps, we see that using tarps as shelter is a somewhat sensible idea. Poly tarps are designed to be waterproof and are treated to be mildew and UV resistant. The somewhat breathability of the material allows for some air to circulate beneath and prevent mildew forming on any objects covered by it. Tarps are used in camping, either as a tent or as a material to protect the tent and campsite from water, and in this type of community, a tarp would be adequate shelter, to a certain extent. Tarps don’t keep heat in and staying warm in the winter when living in a tent or tarp shelter is going to involve significant insulation.

Although the article mentions that the protestors in the Lower East Side vacant lot owned by JP Morgan Chase were arrested, the two points brought up in this article pertain both to tarps as shelter. Although this blog, as mentioned before, doesn’t advocate using a blue tarp as permanent shelter, the material is used often in shelter situations, such as a damaged roof or in camping in case of rain. The article mentions that the protestors had created a city much like the Hoovervilles in the 1930s and this was constructed primarily out of tarps. In actual modern Hooverville-like communities, tarps are often the preferred shelter material of choice, and they are combined with other materials, ranging from furniture parts to old office cubicle walls, to form a tent.

The other case this article mentions is that the area should be used as a homeless shelter instead of remaining empty. With more people homeless, the city needs additional shelter for them and, instead of having a wasted lot, the plot of land should be developed into something, especially a place to help the homeless or others in need.

Another issue concerning “tarp cities” has been in the news recently and that is about the homeless in Victoria, British Columbia using tarps for shelter, as the city does not have enough space in its shelters for its homeless population. This article mentions that, up until 2007, tarps and tents weren’t allowed to be used as shelter in Victoria, but this ruling was overturned and revised to accommodate the homeless outside at night because of a lack of space in the city’s shelters. The laws now regarding tarp and tent shelters in Victoria allow these structures to be used as night and only in parts of a park.

The argument against these tarp and tent “cities” in the park in Victoria, as mentioned in the article, concerns warmer weather and more debris – trash and leftover tarps – in the park. But, in terms of tarps, the tarps themselves shouldn’t be banned, especially if the city doesn’t have enough space in their shelters for their homeless. To cut back on debris, one option is increasing shelter space or having stricter litter laws as, even if the homeless in these tarp cities didn’t use tarps and tents for protection, trash would still be in the parks.