THE BEST Recycled

Artist Daniel Shankalonian takes old circuit boards and other electronics, and recycles them into desktop sculptures. Among his many creations are spaceships from Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, and Star Trek, as well as a model of NASA’s Space Shuttle. He also made an awesome sculpture of BioShock’s Big Daddy bouncer.

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.

“If they look weird, that’s because they’re made of trash.” Nike’s funky and sustainable Space Hippie line is made from 50% recycled materials by weight, including reground rubber, foam scraps, and Flyknit yarns made from recycled plastic bottles, t-shirts, and yarn scraps. We love how the design embraces the irregularities.

Skate4create makes all kinds of nifty items from recycled skateboard decks. One of our faves is this unique Qi wireless charger. It’s one of the few we’ve seen that doesn’t just look like a hunk of plastic, and we’d be happy to display it on our desk, with or without a phone sitting on it.

MotoArt creates furniture and interior pieces using parts from actual retired aircraft. One of the largest items they make is a conference room wall and sliding door from the fuselage of a Boeing airplane. The exposed aluminum looks amazing in matte or polished mirror finishes. Requires a minimum 25-foot expanse.

Builder Andrew Szeto created an awesome custom version of the iconic Eames lounge chair, replacing the traditional bent wood components with layers of laminated skateboard decks. We love the touch of color that Andrew’s design adds to this classic piece of furniture. More here.

Ollari’s shows us how to take slats of wood from a rickety old door and pallets to create a nifty new piece of outdoor furniture. If you put your mind to it, it’s amazing what you can achieve with a saw, some screws, and glue. We dig the burnt look of the finished piece.

IDIDTHAT creates whimsical and functional art by reclaiming vintage objects. They have lots of cool stuff in their Etsy shop, but our favorites are these old rotary phones from the 1950s and 1960 which have been converted to desk lamps. Their coiled cords can be bent into various positions, and their LED light source is nice and bright.

Shmoxd shows us how to make recycled paper using readily available materials. He then adds texture and color to the new paper by adding different bits like plants, food and even shredded electronics. But will it blend?

How to Make Everything is usually busy making ordinary items in overly complex ways by creating them from scratch. But this time, what he made was anything but ordinary – an electric guitar fabricated from junked car parts, complete with a Mad Max-style flamethrower.

Nimble’s iPhone cases are made from 100% recycled plastic bottles, along with fabric exterior for texture. No plastic is wasted in packaging them, and for each one purchased, 5% of the price goes to non-profits who help protect our oceans and marine life.

The upper of VIA Design Lab’s stylish sneakers is knit from yarn made from recycled plastic. It also has a membrane that keeps water, dirt, and odor out for up to 2 hours. Its heel can also be folded to turn the shoe into a more breathable low-top. It comes in three colors.

Everlane’s Tread shoes are made from 45% recycled materials. Only 5.8% of the sole is made from virgin plastic, unlike many shoes where the sole is almost entirely made of the non-biodegradable material. It will be available in six colors starting 4/25/19.

Everlane’s affordable and versatile All-Weather Jacket is windproof, water-resistant and has a relaxed fit. Like the rest of Everlane’s ReNew collection, its fabric is made entirely from recycled plastic water bottles. It comes in black, navy or olive.

Hybrid Green Label makes shoes with outsoles that are partially made from recycled rubber. Depending on the design, the uppers are made with one or a mix of canvas, leather, mesh, suede or knit fabric. They have high top and low top models in various colorways. Also on Amazon.

Design studio Giò Forma was hired by Timberland to create a giant robot sculpture out of recycled plastic bottles. On display for Milan Design Week 2019, it’s a nod to Timberland’s ReBOTL material, a key part of their sustainability efforts.

Jackman Works walks us through the complex process of making wooden coasters with a cool diamond pattern. He starts out with sticks of old pallet wood, stacks and laminates them with glue, cuts them on the diagonal, then slices, CNC carves circles, and finishes each one.

Quartertwenty created this slick piece of upcycled modern furniture which is made using cork from inside of aluminum baseball bats. The cork provides style and cushioning, while aluminum rods and steel provide stability.

Killspencer’s minimal bag is handmade from used US military parachutes. This makes them lightweight, packable and resistant to tears. The bag comes in two sizes. The 12.5″x 20″ is a perfect shoe bag, while the 20″x 28″ is great for stowing laundry.

The North Face’s Bottle Source clothing is partially made of Repreve polyester, which is made from recycled plastic bottles. The bottles used came from the waste collected in Yosemite, the Great Smoky Mountains, and Grand Teton National Parks.

Oak Lane Woodworks handmakes these beautiful and substantial pens using reclaimed wood from whiskey barrels. They can be had with a twist or bolt-action mechanism, crafted from Jack Daniels, Wild Turkey, or Makers Mark barrel wood.

Like all of Freitag’s bags, the Zippelin is made from heavy duty upcycled truck tarps. It also has a capacity of 85L. But it’s packable and lighter than many travel bags because it uses an inflatable bicycle inner tube instead of a metal or plastic frame.

Karst Stone Paper makes notebooks without using wood pulp, water, bleach, or acid. Instead, they recycle stones from mining wastes to create paper that’s waterproof, tear-resistant and smooth. The notebooks come in A5 and A6 sizes.

Trisha Cheeney’s jackets and bags are made almost entirely out of recycled materials. The insulated jacket uses around 214 plastic shopping bags and fleece made from recycled materials. The windbreaker is made of about 90 bags and mesh made from recycled materials.

Australian artist Moerkey creates sculptures using recycled keys, coins, and copper as his primary media. While the skull, bowl, and wine bottle designs are very cool, there’s something about the giant sphere of keys that catches our eye. His smallest spheres are nifty too.

Dakota Stitch & Design makes bags and other accessories out of used firefighter uniforms, aka bunker gear. Nicole Gibson started the business after her husband, a firefighter, refused to buy expensive diaper bags. She made do with what she had, and the rest is history.