DIY air purifiers create safer community spaces as respiratory illnesses surge
As respiratory illnesses surge, some local residents are taking matters into their own hands by building do-it-yourself air purifiers.
Known as Corsi-Rosenthal boxes, they require little more than a box fan, some furnace filters and duct tape. Recently, a group of volunteers gathered at Sackville Commons and Co-working to build six of the devices.
“It makes our space very safe,” said Shoshanna Wingate, a local community organizer, author and former poet laureate for the Town of Sackville.
She organized the workshop, which was led by Prof. Dave Thomas of Mount Allison University.
“It cleans COVID-19 out of the air, as well as allergens, other viruses,” she said.
Sackville Rotary donated funds to pay for materials, amounting to $700 for six boxes, she said. That about $116 per box.
On Sunday, Wingate spoke to CHMA about the devices, and how respiratory illnesses are affecting families in Sackville. Listen to the full interview:
The DIY system is named after environmental engineer Richard Corsi, who came up with the idea, and Jim Rosenthal, the head of a filter manufacturer in Texas, who first built it.
READ MORE: Step-by-step instructions on how to build an air purifier, written by Richard Corsi.
The Anglican Parishes of Sackville and Dorchester have also built and installed their own Corsi-Rosenthal boxes.
Photos on social media show a group of parishioners making eight of the air filter boxes during a workshop organized by Kandice Cann. … Continue