Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: Aurora Robson, eco design, eco-art, green design, PET, Plastic bottles, Pollution, recycled art, sustainable design, Waste, waste to treasure

A recycling plant that will recycle up to 2 billion PET bottles a year recently opened this month in Riverside, California. Governor Jerry Brown attended the opening ceremony for the carbonLITE facility that the company says will be the world’s largest plastic bottle-to-bottle recycling plant. The 220,000 square foot facility, built at a cost of $58 million, will receive #1 PET bottles from California curbside recycling programs.

Read the rest of New California Plant Will Recycle 2 Billion Plastic Bottles a Year

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: Assembly Bill 1149, California, carbonLITE, environmental sustainability, HPC Industries, jerry brown, Nestlé, Neville Browne, pepsico, PET, pet bottles, plastic bottle recycling, Plastic bottles, recycling, riverside

Keeping our national parks beautiful should be a nation-wide effort, and the Grand Canyon National Park is hoping to take a step in the new year that would make that easier for everyone by banning the sale of plastic bottles within the park’s borders. The park has had a plastic bottle ban on its radar for a while now and is currently looking into the feasibility of placing public water refilling stations around the park to make sure visitors keep well hydrated. If the ban is approved and implemented the park would be following in the footsteps of Zion National Park in Utah and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park – two parks that have already put plastic bottle bans in place.

Read the rest of Grand Canyon National Park Plans to Ban the Sale of Plastic Bottles in 2012

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: banning plastic bottles, grand canyon, grand canyon national park, grand canyon water fountain, national park bottle ban, National Park Service, plastic bottle, plastic bottle ban, Plastic bottles

Bisphenol A, a compound found in many hard plastic bottles and cans, is one of the most pervasive chemicals in the modern world. The chemical has been detected in the bodily fluids of more than 90 percent of the human population, and now a new research study published in the journal Molecular Endocrinology points to a possible link between in utero BPA exposure and increased risk of breast cancer. In the study, which was conducted with mice, researchers from the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research concluded that exposure to BPA can alter an individual’s long-term hormone response, which can increase the risk of breast cancer.

MORE >

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: bisphenol A, BPA, breast cancer, breast cancer awareness, cancer, chemicals, pinkwashing, Plastic bottles

We’re happy to see that many eco-conscious Americans have gotten used to toting around their own water containers instead of buying disposable water bottles. Many consumers thought they were lightening their carbon footprint by buying SIGG brand aluminum bottles, but then the company revealed that its “green” aluminum bottles did in fact include Bisphenol-A (BPA) in both their linings and exterior – a chemical that can cause obesity, neurological issues, and other harmful side effects. After consumer outrage, thousands of returns, and broken business partnerships, the company’s U.S. distributor has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Read the rest of SIGG’s US Bottle Distributor Files For Bankruptcy

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: aluminum bottles, bisphenol A, BPA, Patagonia, Plastic bottles, reusable bottles, SIGG, SIGG bankrupt

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: artificial island, eco design, eco island, Floating Island, garbage island, green design, isla mujeres, Joysxee, man-made island, Plastic bottles, Rishi Sowa, Scott Mader, solar panels, Solar Power, sustainable design, wave powered washing machine

Read the rest of Volunteers Recycle 7000 Plastic Bottles into a Colorful Shingled Roof

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: bottle roof, deen city farms, Eco Architecture, eco design, fizzy bottle roof project, green architecture, Green Building, green design, Plastic bottles, recycled bottle architecture, roof made of bottles, sustainable design

Another design which caught our attention earlier this year at the London Design Festival was this incredible design by Florie Salnot at RCA’s Sustain show. Salnot spent time working in Saharawi refugee camps and developed an easy and low-tech method of creating intricate, luxe-looking jewelry from plastic waste.

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: florie salnot, Jewelry, London Design Festival, Plastic bottles, RCA sustain show, recycled jewelry, recycled plastic jewelry, recycling, recycling DIY

If you’ve been on the hunt for non-toxic cleaner that also boasts a long-lasting reusable bottle, then Replenish may be just the thing you’re looking for. This household cleaner is shipped in small pods of super concentrate that can be snapped into a reusable bottle and mixed with water, significantly cutting down on the shipping weight and material use of other cleaning products. Each bottle has been engineered to last up to 3 years, each concentrate pod can make 4 bottles (64 ounces) worth of cleaner, and the fluid is not only 98% plant-based, but completely biodegradable — it’s so pure that the company says you could even drink it!

Read the rest of Replenish Cleaner’s Smart Design Cuts CO2 and Plastic Waste

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: biodegradable cleaners, cleaners, Green Cleaners, household cleaners, non toxic cleaners, plant based cleaners, Plastic bottles, recyclable plastic, refillable cleaners, Replenish

We recently reported on bubbly going green, and now bubbly water is following suit. The Parisian water utility is offering free “pétillant” at the Jardin de Reuilly, giving lovers of the fizzy stuff the chance to kick the plastic bottle habit.

Read the rest of Parisians Get Free Sparkling Water on Tap

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: carbonated water, eau de paris, Paris, plastic, Plastic bottles, sparkling water, water bottles, water issues

Here at Inhabitat we’ve showcased a host of amazing structures made from repurposed bottles, but we’ve never a project as polished and sleek as this. The Far Eastern Group sponsored this three story “EcoARK” movable Fashion Pavilion for the 2010 Taipei International Expo. The just-finished structure features walls made entirely out of plastic bottles and it’s built to withstand earthquakes and hurricanes. These aren’t your average-joe coke bottles, however — they’re POLLI-Bricks by miniWIZ!

Read the rest of EcoARK Pavilion made from 1.5 Million Plastic Bottles

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: ecoark, green building materials, green design, hymini, miniwiz, pavilion, PET, plastic bottle bricks, Plastic bottles, polli brick, sustainable design, taipei, Taiwan

While a party guest suggests to Dustin Hoffman’s character in The Graduate that “There’s a great future in plastics,” nobody could have predicted that they’d one day be used to make houses! Plastic waste is a class-A environmental problem, and putting recycled plastic to new use is one way of limiting it. And that’s exactly what Welsh company Affresol is doing by using it to build their amazing modular homes.

Read the rest of Affresol Makes Modular Homes Out of Recycled Plastic

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: green architecture, Green Building, green design, plastic, Plastic bottles, recycling, Swansea, water bottles

Bottled water is anathema to many hardcore environmentalists. Taking water from the land and sky, putting it into containers made from oil, and shipping it around the world defies core eco-friendly values in many ways. Yet premium bottled water producer FIJI Water is aggressively marketing itself as green. You may have seen ads with the slogan “Our Promise, Our Progress” or “Every drop is green” and images of a bottle of FIJI Water next to a big green earth. On the bottle itself, the iconic hibiscus flower is now joined by a prominent green water droplet, and the back of the bottle invites you to visit FIJIGreen.com to find out more about the environmental impact of the water you’re drinking.

Read the rest of IS IT GREEN?: FIJI Bottled Water

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: Barbara Chung, Bottled Water, fiji water, is it green, Plastic bottles

The sibling team of Reta Howell and Vana Howell of THIS Gallery have taken recycling into their own creative hands with their THIS Light series. Made from discarded plastic bottles that the two salvage locally, THIS Light turns landfill destined “trash” into delightfully repurposeful lamps. Each fixture is original and handmade, and incorporates every piece of collected plastic into the design. The results are an enlightening display that also serves as a beautiful “reduce, reuse and recycle” reminder.

Read the rest of THIS LIGHT Made from Recycled Plastic Bottles

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: Green Lighting, Plastic bottles, Recycled Materials, repurposed materials, Reta Howell, THIS Gallery, Vana Howell