Ever wonder what happens to all that hair on the floor after a haircut? Most salons simply throw it away, but Matter of Trust will turn shorn hair into mats used by volunteers for soaking up oil spills.
Here we look at fibers (hair, wool, fur, feathers...). Thousands of salons mail us hair clippings, swept up off their floors, and the fibers are woven into Oil Spill Hair Mats. We all know about shampooing our oily hair, but it took Phill McCrory, a stylist from Alabama, to realize that hair was also an efficient and abundant material for collecting and containing petroleum spills. Salons, barbers, pet groomers, wool farmers, individuals... SEE HOW YOU CAN DONATE HAIR and spread the word.
The mats can be wrung out of oil and reused up to 100 times.
12-Year-Old Boy Builds Recycled Shelter for Homeless
12-year-old Max Wallack has created a "Home Dome" from plastic, wire, and packing peanuts. The Home Dome is designed as a homeless shelter and was created for the show Design Squad's Trash to Treasure contest. Max won $10,000 and a Dell laptop for his invention. Max explained his inspiration:
When I was six. I won an invention contest that included a trip to Chicago. While there, I saw homeless people living on streets, and beneath highways and underpasses. I felt very sorry for these people, and ever since then, felt that my goal and obligation was to find a way to help them. My invention improves the living conditions for homeless people, refugees, or disaster victims by giving them easy-to-assemble shelter.
Terracycle Upcycles Record Albums and Circuit Boards into Picture Frames, Coasters and Clocks
I love Terracycle, as they are really trying to take hard to recycle items and upcycle them into new products. The most recent products to come out in March feature record albums and circuit boards.
TerraCycle, Inc., the ultimate eco-friendly brand, is introducing the first nationally distributed product line made from upcycled vinyl records and circuit boards. These products are unique and environmentally responsible because they are made from materials that have been rescued from the world's waste stream and would have ended up in already overflowing landfills.
Technology progresses at an astounding rate and a trail of trash is close in tow. Every time consumers upgrade their PC, TV, stereo, or other electronics, they add to the colossal stream of e-waste. In 2005, Americans generated 2.6 million tons of e-waste according to the EPA1. Of this amount, only 12.6% was recycled. Continuing the Trash Revolution, TerraCycle reuses circuit boards to create new products.
With the prevalence of digital media and portable music players, (and CD's before that) vinyl records have truly fallen by the wayside. While serious collectors hang on to their vintage discs, the average person is disposing of the records that have been collecting dust in the attic.
These unique, upcycled products will retail at an affordable price of $12.95.
My background is in graphic design but I have recently begun designing jewelry as well. All of my pieces have an asian flair to them and are made from recycled papers and other jewelry findings. As a graphic artist, I'm drawn to beautiful bits of printed material and enjoy mixing them with other media. All pieces are hand crafted by me in my studio, in San Francisco, California.
Squishy Sushi's unique pieces have an Asian influence are made from items such as magazines, dominos, and Scrabble pieces. I recently purchased a Recycled Scrabble pendant:
This scrabble pendant is made from a bit of recycled magazine. The pendant has been coated with a heat and water resistant 2-part resin for a high gloss shine and durability. The bail is silver plated. This pendant measures 3/4" by 1" including the bail.
At only $7.50, this pendant is certainly affordable, and I feel good about supporting an artisan on Etsy.
Looking for Eco-Friendly Holiday Cards: ReProduct Eliminates Waste
Founded on the principles of Cradle to Cradle design, as defined by William McDonough's book Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things,ReProduct has designed zero waste holiday cards. The cards come with their own prepaid envelope, so the receiver of the card can send it back to a recycling center, where it will be repurposed into carpet backing. You can even get photo cards from ReProduct. Nearly 7.5 billion greeting cards are sold in this US every year. If we could recycle all these cards, we would help close the loop.
Baby Earth is more than just an eco-friendly online shopping site for young children. It is a resource for parents wishing to go green with baby! From blogs to ideas, such as throwing a green grandmother shower, this site has an impressive amount of information and products.
Inspire baby's senses with the soft, aromatic cuddle doll. Doll is lightly scented with calming lavender to stimulate baby's sense of smell. Wooden rings softly clack together, while bright colors and textured fabrics including velour, corduroy, fleece and sateen offer visual and tactile stimulation.
When playtime is over, put the cuddle doll in baby's hands and encourage them to smell the soft lavender scent. Lavender is commonly used as an aid to sleep and relaxation.
Sassy Earth Brights are handcrafted from quality hardwoods, select fabrics and water-based finishes with packaging made from 100% recycled paperboard.
My niece has this doll and loves it! It is safe for the youngest child, even newborns. The only negative aspects of this product is it is made in China and contains polyester.
Baby Earth also hosts a baby gear recycling program called Baby RENEW. Just send your old car seat, stroller or high chair to Baby Earth, and they will disassemble it and send it to recycling centers. If the gear is still in good shape, it will be donated to a needy family.
Want to get into the recycled laptop bag game? We thought you did. These laptop bags from Be Good Designs are made from recycled car seats and armchairs. This helps to cut down on using toxic materials because Be Good Designs is using materials already in the environment. The scraps that are leftover from making the bags they use to create necklaces in an effort to have less waste leftover. The bags start at around $250.
Timbeland Tote Bag Made From Earthkeepers Billboards
Last fall, Timberland launched the
Earthkeepers line of boots, made mostly with organic and recycled materials. To promote these rugged, durable eco-friendly boots, Timberland erected billboards in Boston and Providence. At the end of the campaign, the billboards were repurposed into tote bags, perfect for shopping or the beach. Just like the Earthkeepers boots, these bags are durable, yet lightweight. Each bag is unique and available for about $25 in Timberland retail stores.
The American Dental Association estimates that the average American replaces their toothbrush two times a year (RN note: even though dentists recommend every three months). At these replacement rates, used toothbrushes account for approximately 50 million pounds of waste annually.
Kitchen Composters: Consider the NatureMill Automatic
Considering buying a kitchen composter, but worried about the amount of work it will require? Concerned you don't have the yard space for an outdoor composter? Concerned about the smell? Consider the Porsche of composters -- NatureMill's automatic kitchen composter.
To use it, add your organic waste -- food scraps (including meat and dairy), coffee grinds, and even pet waste (yuck!), close the lid, and voila. NauralMill's composter uses the hot composting method -- mixing, air flow, heat and moisture -- to create compost without icky odors. The compost gets transferred via a trap door to a lower chamber so you can keep adding new waste and making more compost in the top chamber. Remove fresh compost every two weeks.
Worried about the energy such a composter might consume? From the NatureMill website:
A NatureMill automatic composter recycles its weight in waste every 10 days, diverting over two tons of waste from landfills over its life. This reduces emissions of methane, a harmful greenhouse gas produced when organic matter decomposes in oxygen-starved landfills. Compost returns nutrients to the environment, reducing our need for chemical fertilizers. NatureMill uses 5 kwh / month of energy - or about $0.50/month - less than a garbage truck would burn in diesel fuel to haul the same waste. It is made from recycled and recyclable materials.
The toothbrush handle is made of 100% recycled plastics, including at least 25% recycled Stonyfield Farm yogurt cups. The ergonomic, pea pod shaped handle makes it easy to grip. The nylon bristles are soft and gentle on kids' teeth and gums.
Each brush features a fun fact about one of three endangered animals: the Karner Blue Butterfly, the Utah Prairie Dog or the Grizzly Bear. And a portion of the proceeds from each toothbrush sale supports the National Wildlife Federation's efforts to protect endangered species.
As if good dental hygiene isn't a reward in itself.
Emeco uses 80% recycled aluminum to create this chair. It's based on a classic Navy design, and because it uses recycled aluminum, that means less impact on the environment. Specially made stainless steel foot caps prevent scratching floors or snagging carpets, and if you can believe this - it's made in U.S.A.
We've been trying to figure out how to re-use the plastic bags we still get in our life. Sure you can use canvas bags for grocery shopping, but you can't avoid getting some amount of new plastic bags. One use is the lunch bag or even using them for storing fruit or other items on trips. The big problem - they're usually dirty after using them each time, but they can be washed and reused if you have a plastic bag dryer.
Simply wash bags with a bit of soap and warm water (if ziplock, we fill half way with water, seal and swish around) and rinse well. Simply hang bags over one of the dowels on the bag dryer to dry. If done at night, bags are dry in the morning. Washes up to 8 bags and one container at a time. Made entirely of wood, the base may be removed for portability and/or in order to hang the dryer from the metal eyelet located at the top of the center dowel.
Take a Bite out of Wasteful Plastic Bags with Biter Bag
Made out of recycled plastic bottles (the fabric is called "ecospun"), you can carry your organic goodies in style. Just think, next time you are asked, "paper or plastic?" you sassy thing, you get to say "neither! I BYOB."
Plastic Bag Eco-Facts:
Worldwide, over one million plastic bags are used EVERY MINUTE.
In the US, about 12 million barrels of oil and 14 million trees go to producing plastic and paper bags each year.
About 4 billion plastic bags end up as litter each year.
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