Image credit: lukelukeluke, used under Creative Commons license.
Lloyd once famously declared that recycling is bullsh*t. But this was more to make the case for waste reduction and reuse, than to argue against recycling as a better alternative to throwing stuff away. The fact is that recycling has huge benefits for the environment—and that lesson can be learned through some surprising examples. T...Read the full story on TreeHugger
Waste is a huge problem in modern societies. Not only are landfills an environmental hazard – they use of vast tracts of land, emit greenhouse gas emissions, and leach toxic fluids into groundwater and soil – they’re expensive to maintain (i.e. require more of your tax dollars). Viewed another way, much of the trash that’s sent to landfills could be recycled into new products, if only enough creative reuse ideas were found. Here’s a collection of interesting and diverse ideas other green entrepreneurs have developed for recycling waste into new and useful products.
ReMakes – Reusing Billboards for Designer Placemats
Movie posters and billboards are usually constructed of plastic material that is replaced as often as once every month, and most go straight to the landfill. ReMakes is a company that’s found a way to transform old billboards into stylish placemats. Packaged in sets of four, each ReMakes group is made from the same billboard of movie poster to provide a cohesive color scheme and design, though no two placemats will ever be the same. They’re a funky, unique way to dress up your table while helping the environment. Right now, these placemats are available locally in two stores (one in the US and one in Canada), but perhaps your city needs a similar program for recycling billboards and posters?
Merry Project – Recycled Bottle Caps for Home Gardening
Gardening at home is a great way to grow your own food and herbs, cheer up your indoor spaces, absorb carbon dioxide, and engage your creative brain in natural endeavors. Now you can do so more easily using Merry Project’s recycled bottle cap planters. Bottle caps are often unrecyclable, even if the bottle is recyclable, so finding a creative reuse for these caps is a great idea. The Merry Farming Kits come with a disk of soil that fits into a bottle cap along with seeds for planting. All you need to do is install the soil and seeds, add water, and get growing.
Purpose Energy – Recycling Brewery Waste into Energy
You may not realize it, but your beer habit likely contributes to a big bio-waste problem. Breweries produce a substantial amount of organic byproduct that is usually hauled away to the landfill. But PurposeEnergy has developed a proprietary technology – Biphase Orbicular Biodigesters – to turn this byproduct into a natural gas energy alternative. This helps local breweries reduce their waste, minimizes the greenhouse gas emissions associated with beer making (methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that’s emitted as organic matter decomposes), and generates a completely renewable fuel that’s relatively clean-burning.
EspressoGrow – Recycling Coffee Grounds into Fertilizer
The perfect green business idea for coffee lovers, Espressogrow is a new company that’s developed a method for turning coffee grounds into a natural fertilizer. Based in Australia, this company uses 100% recycled coffee grounds mixed with other organic nutrients to create a great nitrogen boost for your garden that will also help to control pests. Not only is this a great way to recycle organic matter that would otherwise end up decomposing in the landfull, it’s an excellent organic method for fertilizing your garden.
Coffee image Via Flickr: avlxyz
Image credit: DIVE!
DIVE!, the documentary about living off America's trash has been making the rounds of the film festivals for some time now. It's even sparked a huge campaign to get Trader Joe's to stop wasting food. Now the show is coming to a screen near you, as the film is finally launched on DVD. And yes, it comes in pretty minimal packaging too....Read the full story on TreeHugger
Image credit: DIVE!
DIVE!, the documentary about living off America's trash has been making the rounds of the film festivals for some time now. It's even sparked a huge campaign to get Trader Joe's to stop wasting food. Now the show is coming to a screen near you, as the film is finally launched on DVD. And yes, it comes in pretty minimal packaging too....Read the full story on TreeHugger
Image credit Lloyd Alter
When Rob Ford was running for Mayor of Toronto, he complained about the "gravy train" of waste, and promised that he would balance the budget without any service cutbacks. Now he is Mayor, and the first report is in from KPMG, and we see that there is no gravy train of waste, and about the only place to save money is to strip out just about every green and environmental program that the city ever had. Recommendations include:
"Reducing the scale" of cycling infrastructure: The report suggests that "Bicycle Plan and Program are more extensive than warranted by bicycle volumes." This is of course a chicken an...Read the full story on TreeHugger
Image credit: NASA/Todd Mortenson
Unlike most boys, I've never really wanted to be an astronaut. And this latest piece of news just confirms my misgivings. The internet is full of stories that astronauts on the current shuttle mission will be testing a new system for recycling their own pee and sweat into a sugary energy drink. Yum, yum.
But it's not all bad. ...Read the full story on TreeHugger
Image credit Sustainable Phosphorus Futures
We have noted before that we are near Peak Phosphorus. Fred Pearce writes at Environment360 that it is A Critical Resource
Misused and Now Running Low. It is also, like oil, sourced in countries that are going through political turmoil, with 15% of the world's supply coming f...Read the full story on TreeHugger
Image credit: Inga Mun, used under Creative Commons license.
I've written before about composting dirty diapers, and Mike got very excited about the news that mushrooms could break down diapers in 2 months, but given that end-of-life disposal options remain limited, and cloth diapers are yet to becom...Read the full story on TreeHugger
Paris sewers in Victor Hugo's Day
Victor Hugo wrote in Les Miserables that "the history of men is reflected in the history of sewers."... The sewer is the conscience of the city. Everything there converges and confronts everything else. "
It has not changed much since Victor Hugo's day. In fact, one could say that the North American development industry is built on shit. Basically, you either have ultra-low density development based on individual septic systems or you have development driven by the sewer system- the municipal responsibility of collecting shit and processing it and getting rid of it. But we have only had toilets in our houses for a hundr...Read the full story on TreeHugger
Photos by Rich and Brenna Neeley
For Apple product users, the style is minimalist and modern, right? But what if you love both your iPhone, and all things vintage? What if you love both your minimalist iPhone, and the clutter of old, beautiful books on your desk? Well, there's an iPhone dock that will give you both. ...Read the full story on TreeHugger
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