Recycled Island: A Colourful Paradise Made From Garbage

The resourceful Dutch want to turn the Pacific Garbage Patch into a tropical destination. The idea is to recycle the plastic waste floating in our oceans into building materials for a habitable, self-sustaining island.

Recycled Island would be about the size of Hawaii’s biggest island and would be located in between Hawaii and San Francisco. The lofty project’s main goals are to recycle the plastic floating in the ocean, establish a stable and seaworthy island and make the island self-sufficient with its own sustainable foods and energy sources. So we’re talking houses made from plastic, fertilisable soil made from seaweed and human manure, and electricity coming from solar, wave and wind power.

The concept of Recycled Island is admittedly far-fetched but any time you put together recycled plastics and human manure on an island, I’m interested. Plus the Pacific Garbage Patch isn’t going to disappear on its own; maybe this concept will drive sceptics to figure out a more practical solution. [Recycled Island via PopSci]