These unique dice from Aether Objects are made from cassette tapes. Each die has strips of vintage cassette tape preserved forever inside see-through resin. Their embossed numbers are painted with a vibrant yellow inspired by ’80s cassette graphics. Sold in a set of seven dice and packed in a cassette-style storage box.
Armitron makes its Wave watches from Tide Ocean Material, recycled plastics that would have otherwise ended up in the ocean. It has day, date, and 24-hour hands and looks particularly dapper in this navy blue and gold nautical theme. It’s also available in orange, teal, and black.
Nomadix celebrates America’s National Parks and monuments with their “Only Towel You Need.” The towel holds up to four times its weight in water yet dries four times faster than regular cotton terry towels. The outdoor-friendly towel resists sand and pet hair, too. It measures 72.5″ L x 30″ W and is made from 90% post-consumer recycled polyester.
Boston’s Bridge and Harbor handcrafts accessories from leather and wool. Among their wares are these motel-style key fobs sewn from leather reclaimed from vintage footballs, baseball gloves, boxing speed bags, and hockey goalie gloves. They also make unique wallets from the same kinds of materials.
The TPC Louisiana golf course is home to numerous alligators. Among them is a three-legged beast nicknamed “Tripod.” Blake McFarland was commissioned by Zurich to immortalize the big guy. Like some of his other sculptures, he carved Tripod’s body from foam, cast a fiberglass shell, and covered it with recycled tires.
Got an old ATV and a moped sitting in your garage? You could take them to the junkyard, or you could do what Meanwhile in the Garage did and turn them into a tank for your kid. Of course, there was much more to it than rearranging parts. Quantum Tech HD boiled down the laborious 6-month project into a 20-minute video.
Burls Art knows a thing or two about making guitars. He created this one by melting 1000 aluminum cans, and casting the metal to form the neck and body of the instrument. First, he had to build a furnace and equipment to work with the molten metal. We love how he could melt it down and start again when it didn’t work right.
Artist Deniz Sağdıç creates amazing works of art out of recycled junk. She has used everything from wire to bottle caps to integrated circuit chips to buttons to create her works. Every single one of her portraits is incredible, but the one of Steve Jobs is our favorite. The images in the video were on exhibit at the Istanbul Airport.
The Flairdrum is an unusual percussive instrument that uses PET water bottles filled with varying amounts of compressed air. The air pressure changes the surface tension of each bottle, resulting in different notes when struck. Daniel Bornmann performed this ear-soothing rendition of his track Am Anfang ist Klang.
This substantial wood speaker looks like something from a high-end audio line, but it’s actually the result of a DIY build. King Minhvuong walks us through their process of recycling pallet wood into this beautiful portable audio system. If you’re feeling inspired, there’s a full parts list in the video’s description on YouTube.
The makers of the Aleman pocket knife are back with another beautiful knife design. In the interest of sustainability, these knives have blades made from reclaimed antique sawmill blades and handles crafted from whiskey barrel oak and abundant Manitoba maple. Choose from a 13cm long Utility or 18cm Santoku knife.
Etsy seller PlanePieces makes all kinds of home accessories and decor from used airplane parts. These aluminum tea light candle holders got their start as pistons from a Continental Motors engine from a Piper J-3 Cub, a single-engine airplane that dates back to the 1940s. Makes a great gift for an aviation enthusiast.
Computer speakers aren’t the most elegant things. Matthew of DIY Perks wanted something different, and decided to build a sound system from pieces of bamboo flooring. He built a pair of angled dual-driver speakers and connected them with a monitor stand that houses a subwoofer, amplifier, USB hub, and led lighting.
We’ve seen some pretty sweet items made from recycled wine and whiskey barrels. In this video from Ryan Hawkins of West Coast Boards, he shows how he broke down two oak barrels and rebuilt their staves into a beautiful, end-grain butcher block that weighs nearly 50 lbs.
Go big with the super-sized EDC Heist bag. It’s massive yet lightweight and easy to tote with hand straps or the adjustable shoulder/crossbody strap. Big enough to hold your daily or weekend supplies, with huge zippered exterior pockets and interior pockets for smaller stuff. Made with REPREVE Our Ocean recycled plastics.
ChopValue recycles bamboo chopsticks into decor and furniture. Their collection includes coasters, serving boards, shelving, standing desks, and even a block-stacking game, with pattern created by stacking and laminating the wood utensils. The company also empowers community-level recycling with microfactories.
Ben from Woby Designs in an expert at making things by recycling skateboard decks. Watch how he made this awesome looking dining table by stacking thin slices from more than 30 skateboards on edge, nailing them together, and then sealing them with clear epoxy. The metal table legs came from Semi Exact.(Thanks Zico!)
Bulgarian accessory maker Crupon creates journals, laptop sleeves, wallets, and other items using a washable paper fabric made from recycled plastic bottles. Our favorite item is this tri-fold organizer, which can hold business cards, a pen, a phone on its left side, and a notepad on its right. Available in brown, black, or grey.
UK outfit VeloCulture makes personal accessories from recycled bicycle innertubes. Among their wares is this billfold that provides four card slots along with a zippered pocket for holding coins or spare keys. Available in all black or with a contrast color zipper pull.
Vollebak makes its Garbage Sweater using fabric produced from old firefighter suits and bulletproof vests. Rather than send these to the dump when they’ve run their useful lives, Vollebak recycles them into a handsome and cozy sweater that’s also fire-resistant.
Bag maker Incase has added the everyday carry Hipsack to its products made from Bionic – plastic pollution recovered from the ocean. Designed to be worn at the waist or as a shoulder sling, the Hipsack has secure mesh, Velcro and zippered storage pockets, and a detachable keyring to keep valuables organized.
These vibrant and beachy sports watches feature a design inspired by the creatures that dwell deep in our seas. Both their cases and woven yarn straps are made from plastic waste that normally would have ended up clogging oceans. They have an Argonite 715 quartz movement and are water-resistant to 10 ATM.
Created in collaboration with Bureo, this very special version of Jenga is made 100% from recycled fishing nets. The bricks feature embossed images of marine animals threatened by plastic pollution, and each set keeps 25 square feet of the stuff from going back into the ocean.