There was a time when it wasn’t cool to recycle (maybe it still isn’t for a lot of people) – It takes too much time or too much effort. But really, isn’t it something small that you can do to help out the environment, because in the end, pollution, loss of biodiversity, climate change, lack of clean water, etc. eventually affects us all.
Before you click away from reading this, I’m not trying to convince you to give up your living habits or to convert you to some sort of enviro-hippie. All I’m saying is that recycling can be cool, creative, and consumable. There’s a growing sentiment in the environmental movement that instead of developing new technologies and products for us to “go green”, all we have to do is trying to be more efficient in what we currently have or are using. For example, instead of buying energy-saving light bulbs to reduce our energy consumption, why not turn off the lights. Or like Ciclus, a Spanish design firm, why not recycle what we already consume and make something cool to wear or use? They have an ingenious way to recycle wine corks (for all you wine lovers) into something useful.
Check out these other interesting ways to recycle and get something out of it!
http://weburbanist.com/2007/10/23/5-kinds-of-creative-recycled-architecture-cans-bottles-and-other-unusual-building-materials/
http://www.designboom.com/eng/education/plasticbottle.html
http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/green-living/7-unconventional-ways-to-recycle/1141
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2517250.html
http://www.idasia.org/recycle-pet-bottles/
http://www.coolbuzz.org/entry/the-igloo-shaped-plastic-bottle-house/