5 Extremely Creative Ways to Recycle

People everywhere are taking heed of what climate scientists have to say about the dire state of our planet. We have a long way to go as far as reducing waste, but one day  – and one idea – at a time, right? To that end, below are 5 interesting, out-of-the-box ways people are trying to save the planet.

#1. Turning trash into treasure.

In Eskilstuna, Sweden, they’re taking the phrase “one person’s trash is another person’s treasure” to the max in a shopping center that sells only upcycled, recycled, or sustainable merchandise. Patrons can drop off objects they no longer want and mall customers can shop for everything from furniture to clothes and sporting equipments.

#2. It’s gone to the hogs.

Image Credit: Farragutful

The Mall of America is the largest shopping center in the States and it’s also perhaps the greenest. They’ve got LED garage lighting, water-efficient toilets, air-purifying plants and trees, and they also recycle more than 2400 tons of food waste by donating it to local hog farms.

It also recycles about 60% of its total waste – 32,000 tons!

#3. Dirty diapers can still be useful.

Canadian company Knowaste was founded in 1989 and recycles diapers and other absorbent hygiene products by stripping them of their plastic and fiber and turning them into composite construction materials, pet litter, and industrial tubing.

It’s a dirty job, saving the Earth!

#4. Old crayon, new crayon.

Crayons are cheap, which makes them easy enough to toss when they’re down to nubs (or your adorable toddler goes through their “break everything” phase). They aren’t biodegradable, though, so a North California nonprofit called The Crayon Initiative melts them down and turns them back into new crayons.

They then donate them to children’s hospitals.

#5. It’s getting hairy.

If you’ve been throwing out your (or your pets) clumps of hair, you’re doing it wrong – Matter of Trust, a San Francisco based charity, collects hair and fur and uses it to make oil-absorbing mats and other tools used by Hazmat teams to clean up oil spills.

We can only do it together!

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The Medals for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Will Made Entirely from Recycled Metal

Are you a fan of the Olympics? The long wait is almost over, because the Olympic games are coming back in 2020! The games, which will be held in Japan, are made even more special by a new sustainability initiative, thanks to which every single medal at the Tokyo Olympics will be made from recycled metal.

Photo Credit: iStockPhoto

The plan has been in place since 2017, when organizers in Japan began collecting electronic waste for the project. People donated old smartphones, laptops, and other items. Businesses and industry organizations also contributed.

Now, Olympic organizers say they expect to reach their targets in March. As of November, they’d collected 47,488 tons of discarded electronic devices.

Photo Credit: Pexels

“It is estimated that the remaining amounts of metal required to manufacture all Olympic and Paralympic medals can be extracted from the devices already donated,” the organizers said in a statement.

In total, they’ll collect 30.3 kilograms of gold, 4100 kilograms of silver, and 2700 kilograms of bronze.

It’s a major move towards sustainability for the Olympics. In 2016, only 30% of the silver and bronze in medals came from recycled materials.

Later this year, Tokyo 2020 will release the official designs for the medals.

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