Upcycling Plastic Ocean Trash into Fashion

swim wear from waste

A while back I wrote an article about a collaboration between Adidas and Parley to create a shoe out of abandoned fishing nets appropriately named the Adidas Recycled Ocean Waste Shoe. I was happy to see that this turned out to be more than just a concept and that you can actually purchase Adidas shoes made from recycled plastic. Even …

How Rubber Is Revolutionizing Recycling

Rubber has gotten a bad rap from critics, but true to its nature, it has a way of bouncing back. Concerns about discarded tire accumulation have prompted a rubber recycling renaissance since 1991, when the EPA first began promoting use of recycled tire material for playgrounds and sports turf as a way of combating waste. But in recent years, some …

Waste from Shoes and Shoes from Waste

It’s estimated that 20 billion pairs of shoes are produced annually, with roughly 300 million pairs ending up in landfills after they have been worn. The Ethylene Vinyl Acetate, which usually makes up the midsole of most running shoes, can last for as long as 1,000 years in a landfill. There are a few organizations out there trying to reduce …

Reusable Mesh Produce Bag – Bag Again

There are a lot of great choices out there for reusable grocery bags, but Bag Again has created a recycled plastic mesh bag perfect for produce and bulk foods. Not only does it hold it, but you can wash, rinse, and scrub your produce in the bag for even more convenience. Bag Again sent me a few samples to try …

tonlé – Waste Free Ethical Fashion

You may not realize it, but a lot of clothes these days are made in Cambodia. Take a look at your clothing tags, and I’m sure you will find quite a few naming this South East Asian country. With all of those textile factories in such a small country, you are probably wondering what’s the deal? The perfect storm of …

Reclaimed and Repurposed Automobile Furniture – Oxyd Factory

I love the idea of re-purposing discarded trash into art and functional pieces, just as Oxyd Factory has done with junked automobiles. The idea of repurposing and upcycling is a common topic here on The Chic Ecologist, primarily because I love the creativity and reduced environmental impact born out of the transformation. You may have seen other recycled automobile tables …

Fair Trade Designs – Home

Fair Trade is a term you are beginning to see much more as the eco-friendly movement grows. Fair Trade Designs embodies this ideal with their great sustainable items, each with their own background story of the artisans who create them. Vetiver Root Place Mats – Hand woven from cotton and vetiver root and tied together with vetiver tassels. Vetiver is …

Sustainable Grow Your Own Mushroom Kits – Back to the Roots

A pair of green entrepreneurs have come up with a great easy kit to grow your own fresh sustainable mushrooms at home. Alejandro Velez and Nikhil Arora came up with the idea during their last semester at UC Berkeley and turned it into a full fledged sucessfull sustainable business: Back to the Roots. Using the recycled coffee grounds from Peet’s …

Wednesday Green Roundup

Here are some of the stories running around the green web this week. Recycled wood flooring and recycled glass surfaces on Jetson Green- Glass2 is produced with 99% recycled glass with no resin and can be worked on by stone and glass fabricators. Staybull Flooring salvages waste wood from lumber mills around the world in more than 20 wood species. …

Magazine Recycled Paper Content

If you love magazines and catalogs, and haven’t transitioned over to a Kindle or e-reader, then you may be interested to hear about how paper manufacturers and magazines are staying eco-friendly. Or not. While some contain 10-15% recycled content and FSC certified paper, most still use 100% virgin paper. One company stands out in this arena, and is the only …