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There's really nothing great that can be done with Styrofoam other than not produce it in the first place, but in lieu of recycling it or throwing it away, one man and his son, inspired by this artwork, took 5 years worth of Styrofoam packaging and did the next most logical thing—built a giant robot.
Technology Review has a fascinating photo tour of a ReCellular facility, where many of the phones "traded in" for new ones end up. Dealing with thousand of phones at a time, the workers are charged with figuring out which phones can be reused, which can be broken down into their component materials and which are just plain useless. The photography is stunning, and you're just about guaranteed to see at least one of the models you used to carry (or maybe still do) nestled among of the piles and piles of disused handsets. Most interesting is the undignified, molten fate met by parts of the least lucky StarTracs and Nokia bricks, pictured after the jump. [Technology Review -Thanks David!]
The Eco Digi Mode camera is a 3-megapixel digital camera that you have to send in to get the images "developed", and the lab sends you back a wallet of photos and the developed film CD of the photos. "Um... what?" you may be now thinking... but that's exactly the design, even though it sounds like the disposable cameras of yesterdecade. The lab either wipes the cam and resells it, or breaks it down for parts—the 2.4-inch screen could go into a mobile phone, for example. They're cheap, at around US$12 in Japan, and the waterproof version could be fun, and I can see the sense in forcing you to recycle, since it's better than tossing a disused camera in the trash. But it's so bizarre a concept it's difficult to understand without a good long think. [FarEastGizmos]
Solar bags are a great way to charge all your gadgets while out and about, but Switzerland-based bag maker Sakku one ups the green aspect by making its bags out of recycled sails. Each Sakku Buddy comes stamped with a "story" listing the name of the lake or sea which the boat that used the sail is located. Each bag has a 2.5W solar panel and is big enough to contain a 17" notebook. Currently only available in Europe, the Buddy costs either US$275 or US$385, depending on whether you get the chargeable battery option. [Sakku US page via Coolest Gadgets]
Congratulations, Sony Ericsson, for winning what was ultimately a barely challenging competition to become the greenest electronics company around. Our favourite Swedish-Japanese conglomerate rose to the top of Greenpeace's Greener Electronics Guide by exceeding Energy Star requirements, making all its models PVC-free and banning the most harmful chemicals from phones launched since January 2008. Unfortunately, it was valedictorian in a class whose scores have plummeted all around.
A 22 year old British adventurer by the name of Rhys Jones may have made a name for himself as the youngest person to to climb the world's seven highest summits, but he may end up being known as the youngest lunatic to ever drown in a juice carton boat on the Mississippi if his plans for this weekend don't pan out. Actually, the idea was conceived by his father after he received a book about origami. Naturally, his first thought was to build a 12 foot raft with a wooden cabin and a paper hull lined with juice cartons and sail 6,000 kms down one of the most treacherous rivers in the world.
The concept has been around for a while, but Origo Industries is planning on being the first company to release a CO2 recycling system that turns your car emissions into fuel. The unit captures CO2 from your car exhaust and stores it until it can be recycled in a home unit that uses algae to produce bio-oil. According to the company, the system could produce as much as 2,500 litres of free fuel per year--which sounds too good to be true. We shall find out soon enough as Origo is scheduled to unveil the technology for the first time at this year's Green-Car-Guide Live! in the UK starting on June 12th. [Tradingcharts and Gizmag]
It's rare we get to write something positive about Best Buy, but here goes! It's testing a free e-waste recycling program in 117 stores in eight states (Update: Here's the detailed list, thanks Loop!). You can bring in two items a day, like computers, monitors, TVs up to 32 inches, etc., even if it didn't originally come from Best Buy. They'll also take away your junk if you have a shiny new thing delivered. Okay, two gripes.
Dallas' Southern Methodist University is now recycling energy with one of the first commercial electricity generators that use thermoelectricity—the act of drawing power from waste heat. The machine operates by using heat given off by other processes (such as manufacturing) to boil liquids, which then turn into steam, which then turns an electricity-generating turbine.
The origins of this CD Drive salami slicer are unknown, so there are no details on the build itself. However, it seems that adding a decent blade to an old CD drive could score you a salami slicer that fits in with your geeky lifestyle. You could probably even rig it so that operates automatically off a power supply. Now that is what I call recycling. [justelite via about:blank]
