Sara Novak
DCL
By now most all of us know the basics of recycling and reuse. Recycling got its start almost four decades ago and now it's become the norm. We've written before on Planet Green that recycling a ton of 'waste' has twice the economic impact of burying it in the ground. In fact, for every ton recycled, there's an additional $101 more in salaries and wages. Not to mention that both recycling and reuse avoid using up precious space in the landfill.
While we're all well aware of the importance of trashing with care, you may be surprised and downright shocked to see how far we've come. In other words, whenever you're considering throwing something away, think twice about what it could be used for in its next life.
Innovative Ideas That Avoid the Landfill
1. First T-Shirts and Now a Yoga Bag
I'm a huge fan of this yoga bag. In fact, I have one myself and you would never know that it's made from t-shirts. Pre-consumer fibers and clippings are collected after the cut and sew process, sorted by color, and blended. The cotton fibers require no new dying. And no new cotton is required. According to Yogoco, the patterned bags are 70 percent t-shirts and the two solid bags use about 90 percent of the eco-friendly fabric.
2. First Cigarette Butts and Now Designer Clothing
Paula over at Treehugger wrote about Chilean designer Alexandra Guerrero who has been experimenting with making fabrics for her designer duds from cigarette butts. I mean really, can you imagine that? First off, the butts are sterilized and then washed with a solvent and then sterilized again. At this point, they are shredded into a wool-like fabric and then used in her clothing line.
3. First Beer Bottles Now a Buddhist Temple
Lloyd wrote about a beer bottle Buddhist temple. Buddhist monks from Thailand's Sisaket province have collected a million bottles to build the Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew temple. The washrooms and the crematorium are even built of a mix of green Heineken and brown local Chang beer bottles. Now that's initiative.
4. First Yogurt Containers Now a Reusable Bag System What was once a yogurt container is now a reusable bag system from My Eco Bag. The bags are made of recycled polypropylene (mostly from recycled yogurt containers) so that it won't absorb and it's easy to clean. Each bag has a different function: one bag is for glass jars and bottles, another is insulated to keep chilled and frozen goods cool, the third largest is the green bag for produce, vegetables, and fruit, and the largest bag stores oversized groceries and then serves as the clutch that holds them altogether. 5. First Wine Barrels Now an Artistic Wine Bar I wrote about Newton Vineyards a while back. This looks much more like a show stopping piece of art than it does a wine bar. This gorgeous wine installation was designed to make a statement about the intermingling of wine production and nature. It's a 6-foot wine tasting bar made from reclaimed oak wine barrels. These 300-year-old oak barrels came from a wine merchant in Bristol, England. Even the glass is reclaimed, gathered from a construction site. 6. First Surfboards Now Art Surfers have long held a close connection to the planet. After all, Mother Earth could turn at any point and it is her waves that make many a surfer an addict. That's why surf shop owner Jayme Noe began collecting surfboards that were beyond repair; he just couldn't bear to throw them away.The Recycled Surfboard Art Program is turning used surfboards into a creative outlet for local artists. Jayme gives customers a small credit toward their new surfboard in exchange for their old boards. Today, The Recycled Surfboard Art Program has two locations, one in Cocoa Beach and one in San Diego. Like this? Follow me on Twitter.
