We’ve looked at Spiral Island before and now people can actually visit the island made out of old plastic bottles.
Ecoble has more info on the island and looks into some controversy around the island (if it gets destroyed all the plastic bottles become litter again).
There are a few options on how to make that thing you walk on everyday a little more environmentally friendly. Bamboo flooring is my personal favourite. Some enterprising people have taken left over flooring from other projects and put them together in a neat way.
In keeping with our eco design model, and just for the sheer fun of it, we’ve decided that the kitchen floor will be made up from all the leftover pieces of Marmoleum we’ve saved so far.
The first part was the installation of a high quality sub-floor (similar to the bathrooms), consisting of maple plywood and a lot of staples.
Spiral Island may just be the island of the future and not only because it has its own website. Richie Sowa has taken thousands of empty bottles (think water bottles, milk jugs) and put them into big nets, then attached the nets to a platform, then to other platforms. All these platforms are covered in soil and plants, thus making the coolest island ever.
An environmentalist to the core, Sowa is also an artist and a musician. More than just the universal dream of an island retreat, Spiral Island is also his vision for low-impact sustainable living. The next version of the island will be built to withstand more treacherous weather than the first and will also be located in a more sheltered part of Mexico’s waters.
Chopsticks are made of wood, which means, like paper towels, they are made from trees. Trees are really good for the environment and saving them is great. A Japanese lingerie maker has found a way to promote reusable chopsticks in a sexy way.
Lingerie maker Triumph International Japan unveiled the “My Chopsticks Bra” on Wednesday in Tokyo in a bid to promote the use of reusable chopsticks instead of disposable ones.
Japanese bin an estimated of 25 billion wooden pairs of chopsticks a year, many of them already made from recycled wood chips, but a growing number of environmentally aware consumers want to combat this “throw away” culture.
“It’s a small step, but because many Japanese chopsticks are disposable, big chunks of forests are being cut down,” said Hiromi Shinta, spokeswoman for the company.
Bottled water is a good idea in times of disasters (when water systems are inoperable), but for the rest of the time is bottle water a good thing? No.
Green Options examines how you can lessen your impact on the environment by simply not drinking bottled water in the article Lighter Footstep: 5 Reasons Not to Drink Bottled Water.
What can you do?
There’s a simple alternative to bottled water: buy a stainless steel thermos, and use it. Don’t like the way your local tap water tastes? Inexpensive carbon filters will turn most tap water sparking fresh at a fraction of bottled water’s cost.
Consider taking Food and Water Watch’s No Bottled Water Pledge. Conserve water wherever possible, and stay on top of local water issues.