Awesome Recycling

A fascinating sequence from the Discovery show How It’s Made, in which used old tires are shredded and turned into tiny particles which can then be melted down and turned into new rubber mats, in a great examples of recycling what would have once just sat in a landfill.

Director Mac Premo and skateboard shop Sanford Shapes turned discarded buckets and plywood into skateboard decks as their contribution to Do The Green Thing’s Everyday Things collection.

A large table with a top made of recycled skateboard decks. Dutch company Focused breaks down worn out or defective decks into sticks then glues them together by hand to create one large work surface. Available in two sizes.

Founded by Gregory Kloehn, the Homeless Homes Project turns found objects and other discarded materials into tiny homes for the homeless. Each home is relatively easy to transport and has a unique personality.

Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates checks out the Janicki OmniProcessor. It extracts clean water and ash and generates electricity from sewage sludge. Not only could it save lives, it could also make waste profitable.

Magnetic boards made from planks and poles found along European and West Asian beaches, as indicated by the geographical coordinates branded on each board. Each board even comes with a photo taken when it was found.

Gadget reseller Gizmogul gives us a peek at life in Agbogbloshie, Ghana, the world’s largest electronics dump. Parts of the junk in Agbogbloshie are sold or recycled but the rest are burned, polluting the town with toxic fumes.

will.i.am introduces 3DSystems’ Ekocycle Cube, a compact 3D printer designed to create objects using 25% post-consumer materials. We only wish you could stick plastic bottles directly into it instead of having to buy cartridges.

Fireclay Tile wants to turn used glass from old TVs and computer monitors and convert them into coasters, but they need your help to buy the molds. The glass they will use is from a recycling plant and is proven to be lead-free.

NPR’s Planet Money visited a recycling plant and a bottle manufacturing facility in to see how used bottles are recycled. They found out that it takes less energy to turn recycled glass into bottles than if raw materials were used.

A trash can made of recycled plastic. It has two separate compartments to make it easier to sort recyclables. When the compartments are full, simply snap them apart and transfer their contents.

A short profile by Etsy on Carolina Fontoura Alzaga, a seller who manifests her passion for recycling and the environment by making chandeliers and light fixtures out of used bicycle parts.

A concept for a takeaway beer four-pack that retains the form of the traditional beer pint using recyclable paper cups. Designed by Ivan Maximov for the Russian beer pub chain MUG.

(NSFW: Language) Anybody else wanna go green? Don Cheadle makes us laugh out loud as the 90’s “hero” (or is it eco-tyrant?) Captain Planet in this live action Funny or Die bit. (Thanks, Joel!)

A tale of two extremes, embodied by the title, presented in a unique animated style and filled with memorable scenes. Clear in its message yet not overwhelming or too critical.

Looks like we can stop worrying about the polar ice caps and water contaminants now that NASA has developed a forward osmosis urine conversion kit. Space Shuttle Atlantis‘s crew will get first drink.