A large number of people across the world are homeless. They have nothing to keep them warm during the winter months while we are all enjoying the warmth and comfort of our homes.

Even though a lot of people are trying to help the homeless either by giving them some warm clothes or providing them food, it is still not enough because the weather conditions in winter are often really harsh.

In France, there are more than 3,000 homeless people on the streets while winter temperatures each year are getting extremely low. This has made Geoffroy de Reynal, a French engineer, to invent a pop-up igloo that can fit one individual and provide them security and comfort. He has used his technical knowledge to deal with this social issue and help homeless people.

Namely, these igloos are made of polyethylene foam and aluminum foil which keep the temperature inside 15º warmer than the temperature outside. They are waterproof, compact, recyclable, and repairable. Moreover, they can absorb the solar lighting and thus, raise the temperature inside naturally.

Not only they provide protection from the cold weather, but they also serve as shelter from the violence and theft outside.
In order to build the first igloos, De Reynal used his own money, but afterward, he started an online campaign for crowdfunding for which he received $20,000.

In one of his interviews, de Reynal said that having these igloos does not mean that people are not homeless anymore. He also added that this solution cannot replace emergency accommodation. It can only make homeless people’s lives a bit less difficult. By 2020 De Reynal hopes to build thousands of igloos which are going to be much larger with showers inside and wheels under them to make them easier for transportation.

De Reynal has shown to us that if we want to make the change in the world we should start as individuals. All we need is social responsibility, creativity, and invention.