16.1 Desalinization Ship

Description: A ship that desalinizes ocean water into fresh drinking water on demand. It can be contracted out in times of water shortages to anchor offshore and operate a pump and line to trucks, water mains located on the shoreline. Another option is smaller tanker ships where shore access is difficult. This ship can also operate while docked at a deep water port.

The technology used to desalinize can be any (or multiple types) that can operate on the movement and fuel resources of a ship.

Coupling this with tanker ships means you could have freshwater in reserve to be used as needed.

Industries such as mining use large amounts of freshwater, these ships can supplement them as well.

Pros: freshwater will become an increasingly needed resource as the earth heats up and population grows. Climate change less to less predictable drought and rainfall patterns. This will create shortages of freshwater in less expected places. They will need bulk water quickly, the capacity of a ship makes this possible. Desalinization technology will likely get more efficient and cheaper, these ships can be updated to be more cost effective.

Cons: This could be more expensive than trucking water across land from wells and rivers, even at large volumes. Local governments and municipalities could simply refuse to pay for this service, making excuses or dragging their heels as drought affects the poor more than rich donors to politics.

16.2 Prison Athletic League

Description: Live stream sports from prison. MMA tournaments or events, basketball with 80s style fouls allowed, anything else that would translate well to live streaming. Prisoners can compete for a championship with the winners getting real money prizes. Part of the proceeds must go to the cost of incarceration, the rest can go to athletes themselves, or possibly the victims. If a team member is in solitary confinement or some other discipline, they cannot play. The colour commentary team must be prisoners, no censoring of their commentary allowed, just raw.

The feed may have to be delayed in case a player brings a weapon and injures or kills someone.

Pros: provides an entertaining sport, people are intrigued by prisoners. Gives the prisoners something to do that can earn money. Its possible that inmates could got scouted from here and enter amateur or pro sports on release. There is an interest in MMA and “old school” style basketball.

Cons: this could be abused, if enough money is made certain players sentences could be extended to keep them playing. Fights and stabbings could occur mid game. It could lead to more gang violence and conflicts that start in the game or fight. The guards may not like this and refuse to referee or monitor this. Prisons may never buy into this fearing public backlash.

16.3 Compact used Cars

Description: vehicle manufacturers in North America have moved away from producing compact cars in favour of SUVs in order to make more profits. There is still a demand for compact cars. This is true of spread out cities with unreliable public transit, small isolated towns and places with expensive gasoline. Electric cars require a charging station, most renters don’t have access to this or their parking situation makes plug in hybrids difficult.

For those who do want hybrids and electric cars, these need to be offered as well with warranty packages specifically for the batteries.

To buy, sell and repair these small cars requires extensive warranty packages on the used cars. It has to be seen as a “safe” buy by the consumer. When repaired these cars should be fixed better than original where possible.

Pros: there is an unmet need here, particularly among low wage earners. The warranties take the fear of breakdowns away from those who don’t know how to fix their own cars.

Cons: The margins for this may be too slim, compact used cars don’t sell for high prices. Some of these smaller cars have weaker, thinner frame and suspension components, making them less reliable with age.

16.4 Recycle 500

Description: Recycle racing-use a speedway/dragstrip to destroy things that are hard to recycle and made of materials that are hard to recycle. Once they are torn “more” apart they are easier to dispose of. Examples are:

Fibreglass

• boats and trailers- demolition style racing towing the object behind cars. Allowed to hit the towed objects

• RV racing demolition derby style

Drywall

• Rage rooms where you wear a mask and break drywall pieces with tools, boxing gloves as they are hung from ropes

• A drag race where you have to drive through multiple layers of drywall hanging across your lane in a ¼ mile

• Drywall paintball, kick down walls of the maze

Hard to recycle plastics

• Monster trucks crushing them while they crush cars

Pros: this is a way to help recycle materials that cost the most money to break down and recycle. Provides unique entertainment, therefore revenue.

Cons: The irony of using fossil fueled vehicles to recycle will fool nobody.

16.5 Lawn Care Share

Description: Lawn care share trailer-subscription service to borrow lawn equipment (mower, weed wacker, hedge trimmer, shovels, aerator, rakes). Sign up and book a date you need it, trailer gets left in front of your yard. You use it, lock it back in trailer.

The market would be places that don’t have enough low wage workers, cities with expensive rent and living costs coupled with a low minimum wage. Or places where homeowners don’t have much cash and need to save money on property maintenance.

A camera would be needed inside the trailer to show if tools are stolen, who used them last.

Pros: makes better use of lawn care equipment, much less down time. Avoids the sunk costs of each household needing, storing, and maintaining a mower.

Cons: Less convenient than being able to just cut your lawn when you want. People who own houses may consider lawn care equipment a minor expense/inconvenience, not worth this subscription.

16.6 Old Rail Housing

Description: Old rail lines used to for temporary housing. Use/build housing to fit the width of the rail area that can be moved away by truck or on wheels that can roll on the track into place. It’s best if these units were durable enough to be re-used later on another unused rail line.

Services would have to be nearby (line running through a town) for hookups. This is for old rails where owner and municipality can’t decide what to do because all options are very expensive. Lease the space, install the unit and rent. The access to units would be footpaths wide enough for smaller forklifts (48” or so) to deliver heavy goods to units.

Pros: This increases rental stock, particularly useful in markets with housing shortages. It provides income for the owner of the rail line passively. Rail lines are often undesirable areas as lower cost housing and commercial/industrial buildings were built there when the railway was in service. When the lines shut down, homeless folks squat and hang out near these lines as they are less likely to be removed by the absent owner. By adding tasteful, well managed housing this will make these areas look nicer and less likely people will squat near the line.

Cons: Rail lines are often undesirable areas as lower cost housing and commercial/industrial buildings were built there when the railway was in service. Its possible tenants won’t want to live, even temporarily, in an area that looks like this. NIMBYs and BANANAs may resist this idea just because they live nearby.

16.7 24 Hour Print Shop

Description: Have a small storefront be a 24 hour self print shop. If you have trouble you can ask for help on the computer screen. Help will be a person using a messenger app or possibly video chat.

Personal printers (and printing in general) are on the decline but still occasionally needed. This reduces the overhead by requiring less staff.

Best locations would be near embassy’s, government offices and in densely populated downtown cores of cities.

Pros: There is still a need for printing, especially for older folk.

Cons: These seem to be service added sections inside department stores (Staples, London Drugs). Older folk are often retired so 24 hours is not needed.

16.8 CEO Pay

Description: An app that shows quick metrics on lowest paid employee vs top paid for a given business or corporation. You take a picture of a logo it identifies the ownership/layers of ownership and gives quick data on CEO pay, top paid position, lowest paid position, possible whys (commission salespeople, union workers, workers overseas, CEO performance bonuses) it gives a scorecard and a link to references of public data.

The app will alert you when the numbers changed on businesses you "favourite".

The point is to allow you to make choices of what businesses your frequent based on how equitable (you think) the pay scale is.

The app will also show which companies users have as favourites, comments to why are allowed as well.

Pros: quickly allows busy working people to make decisions on where to spend their money. People are increasingly concerned about executive payas they see life getting more expensive in North America.

Cons: Corporations, if this app leads to market behaviour changes, would try harder to hide executive pay data and possibly try to change the data in the app itself. People may not care to know this in an app and simply look the information up themselves. How does this app make money? Advertising would be problematic.

16.9 Cash Crop 911

Description: A company that specializes in ways to stop crop failure when an extreme weather event happens. Speed and mobility are essential for this.

For extreme heat at the wrong time: Fans, AC, shade covers, water sprayers and any other effective technology (or technology mix) that can be deployed quickly can be used quickly to save crops. This could be a combination of temporary tents set up and AC lines run from trucks to the tents.

For extreme cold at the wrong time: wind barriers, piping heat to the affected plants/trees in combination with temporary tents

This would be a paid service or subscription service, competing with crop insurance. Use of multiple drones/drone army to do this. The weather needs to be watched so equipment can be staged nearby.

Pros: Local governments may see this as a way to score points with a farming community struggling to deal with climate change. The costs, likely high, will provide food security and farm security. This could make it worth it to politicians and farmers.

Cons: this could be so expensive that no one wants to pay for it. It may be worth it to just take the loss instead. This could be very logistically difficult or impossible to save multiple farms at the same time.