How to Make Life Saving Face Shields From Disposable Beer Kegs

No one was properly prepared for COVID-19. Amongst the challenges we are facing today is the lack of equipment needed by health workers world wide. We (the Plaato team), a Norwegian beverage tech startup, thought about how we could make a positive impact. Face shields are one of the essential pieces of equipment that is sorely needed. This is a significant challenge for all of us that requires creative solutions. We came up with an effective and simple way of making high quality keg face shields out of disposable plastic kegs found in large quantities in bars and restaurants worldwide. This makes sense because they are incredibly easy to make and because there are more bars and restaurants than pharmacies and hardware stores globally.

A conservative estimate is that every bar has at least 5 empty plastic kegs while every restaurant has around 3. each of these kegs can become 8 keg face shields. In Oslo, the city where we live, has around 160 bars and 720 restaurants. That makes 23.680 keg face shields. That is a lot for a small city like Oslo. Here are the numbers (estimates, from this source) from other cities in the world:

• London: 1.700 bars and 18,110 restaurants = 502.640 keg face shields
• Tokyo: 1.600 bars and 148,582 restaurants = 3.629.968 keg face shields
• Sydney: 280 bars and 19,384 restaurants = 476.416 keg face shields

The point is that there are a lot of bars and restaurants in the world and a lot of potential face shields.

By using disposable beer kegs, valuable 3D printers are not needed, which is a plus since they can be utilized in making other equipment. The keg version is made easily and quickly. It is made from high quality food grade material, which means that it is made to be easily sanitized and safe. They are not reusable, so bars and restaurants will happily give them out. This is also a great way of supporting your local craft brewery and restaurant and to empty kegs (those that are not already empty). There has never been a better excuse to drink 20 liters of beer.

Step by Step Tutorial

What you need

• Three zip-ties
• One rubber string - elastic band
• One drill
• One pair of scissors
  

Step 1
Find a disposable keg from a local pub. They will look like this.

Step 5

Drill holes (5-6mm) and add the zip ties

Step 6

Add the elastic band, cut off the zip ties and attach the shield to the keg base

(Optional) Add double sided tape and sponge for extra comfort

The result
This is Michael Kononsky, co-founder and Industrial Designer at Plaato. He is the guy who had the idea for Plaato keg shield.

Make a Difference

Jump on the boat with us and make a difference, by supporting your community and the healthcare heroes who work hard to save lives. Everyone can do it. Please contact your local bar and restaurants and ask if they have some leftover plastic kegs and your hospitals to check if they need some keg face shields. When you make them and post pictures, use the hashtag #PlaatoKegShield to spread the word! Also, please share this article with friends and family so that we can beat the virus together.

If you have potential improvements for the DIY to suggest or other enquieries: Please send an email to: Michael@plaato.io and Jorgen@plaato.io

Btw; We are also in the process of designing DIY for a more advanced piece of equipment; PARP (Power Air Purifying Respirator). Updates coming.

Author:
Jørgen Hålien