Eat This, Not That! took a look at what is found in bottled water.

I don’t know about the rest of the world, but for Americans and Japanese, what comes out of the tap is just as good if not better for you than what comes in the plastic bottles, and better for the environment, too! No recycling, no plastic, no contaminants!

Dasani of Coca-Cola is selling Philadelphia tap water that has been purified. The Natural Resources Defense Council found that about 22% of  brands tested contained contaminants ABOVE state health limits.

Let’s see, tap water that meets state, federal and local guidelines or trendy bottled water with fancy names that costs more than gasoline. Hmm…

I’ll put a purifier on my tap water and go with that and be kinder to the environment and my wallet as well. How about you?

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The sidewalks on the streets of Philadelphia are dotted with brand-new solar-powered trash cans these days.

Solar-powered Trash Compactors in Philadelphia

These new, landfill-crunching compacting bins are powered completely by the sun and are capable of receiving around 8 times as much waste as a regular trash can.

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Astronauts aboard the International Space Station have created history of sorts by turning their urine into water and actually drinking it!

On May 20, astronauts aboard the space station drank water that had been recycled from their urine, sweat and water that condenses from exhaled air. What is more, they said “cheers” as they clicked drinking bags and toasted those working on the ground at the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) who themselves were sipping their own version of recycled drinking water.

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Co-founder and CEO of RecycleBank, 32 year old Ron Gonen just got the 2009 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Champion of the Earth award. One of only seven environmental leaders in the world, Ron Gonen has been honored at the Environment Summit (B4E) in Paris, today. On Earth Day.

Ron Gonen, CEO and Co-Founder @ RecycleBank

Chosen for his experience as a recycling businessman (one of the best garbage moguls out there), Gonen is the man behind RecycleBank— a rewards company that motivates people to recycle. Using a proprietary technology that measures the amount of materials each home recycles, the company issues RecycleBank Points that can be used to shop at over 1,400 local and national businesses.

“At RecycleBank, we focus on providing every home in every neighborhood the opportunity to be rewarded for recycling and for doing their part to protect our environment. Being recognized by the United Nations Environment Programme as a ‘2009 Champion of the Earth’ demonstrates that an idea conceived in an apartment, when adopted by a great team of people, can be turned into a global movement,” said Gonen.

Available in 18 states (and expanding) and covering 125,000 households in the United States in over 35 municipalities, RecycleBank is one of those companies that are trying to make a buck and a difference at the same time.

Congratulations Ron Gonen! Congratulations RecycleBank!

One of America’s most respected brands is Reynolds Wrap. The aluminum foil maker has come up with an offer for the green-minded. For this year’s EarthDay, Reynolds Wrap will offer foil made from 100% recycled aluminum with a mail-in rebate (up to $3.99).

The offer will be available for download on April 22 at 4:22 am EDT and will be valid only in the United States. Quantities are limited so get the date and time right. Tricky way to get your email address perhaps but you can can sign up for an email reminder here.

A small step to “greening” your kitchen perhaps and to make the house person’s work place more environmentally friendly. But, that journey of a 1000 steps can start in the kitchen, too, right?

Good green-marketing or is Reynolds Wrap really trying to make a difference? What do you think?

How about gifting your love a dress made out of junk? Not such a bright idea if it actually looks like trash, but it sounds a lot better when it looks like the special £55 women’s suit unveiled by Debenhams.

Entirely made of recycled plastic bottles for a “plastic princess”, that does not mean you will have a giant goofy looking dress with bottles pinned all around.

This Debenhams recycled suit is something that you can probably even carry into the boardroom meeting with style and dignity.

Around 50 plastic bottles are melted down refined and woven into a soft, but hard-wearing type of polyester fabric.

With a price tag of mere £35 for the single-button jacket and £20 for the trousers, this might be the perfect dress during the hard times.

Although the fabric may not be that comfortable, this is a huge favor for the planet with less plastic in the landfills.

While one still wonders how much energy is spent in all that melting and weaving of bottles into suits and how green that process really is, we still can’t wait to try out something like this when it comes in the men’s lineup.

So when is that Debenhams? [via DailyMail]

It is hard to believe sometimes the amazing and simply astounding designs, shapes, patterns and accessories that a DIY contest can throw up. Nothing shouts out reuse better than this wonderfully shaped and cozy looking Drops Chair designed by Camilla Hounsell Halvorsen of Norway.

Crafted from what looks like a giant tube of some thrown-away wheel’s inner-tube and wrapped with elegance using recycled upholstery material, it looks like one giant doughnut on a four-legged stainless steel stand. With a simple, minimalist feel that exuding plenty of charm with its comfortable appearance, it’s available in blue but you can always try it with black and white strips.

There is absolutely no reason why anyone cannot craft up something similar with very little time and energy spent on it. Right? [via Inhabitat]

If you were told that a recycled desk would cost you $5000, then you would obviously think we are crazy or kidding. But that’s no ordinary desk. The creative folks from Reestore have once again conjured up recycling innovation with aviation trash to create a desk out of an old airplane wing. Dubbed Deborah, it looks unusual for an office desk, but the appeal of setting your files on an old Boeing 747 wing is an alluring prospect indeed.

Initially crafted for business tycoon Theo Paphitis, Reestore is now going commercial with this expensive, yet exclusive desk. Supported by stainless steel legs and topped with toughened glass, the desk measures in at 2100mm x 1000mm x 900mm.

Recycle and reuse is a concept that is not very popular in the aviation industry and that is one of the reasons why it gets plenty of slack. I guess Reestore is giving them a whole new way of reducing waste and making some profits too! [via Inhabitat]

With each passing day it is getting harder for us to imagine a world that is devoid of the television, laptop, PC, mobile phone and even the MP3 players and the gaming consoles. Sure, not everyone sports them al, but most of us are addicted to electronic gadgets and gladly enjoy the comfort and convenience they have to offer.

The problem though does not crop up from the usage, but the fact that you ultimately need to throw them away after they become old and less fashionable. And acccording to the Environmental Protection Agency, 1.5 million to 1.9 million tons of electronic waste was deposited in U.S. landfills in 2005. So is there a better way to deal with this looming hazard for the planet? Sure thing!

The problem is that e-waste contains hazardous chemicals and toxic metals such as flame retardants, arsenic, mercury and cadmium; making it lethal. With that in mind, initiatives like the European Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) are taking shape in Europe to force consumers to recycle them responsibly and to dispose them in a manner that does the least damage to environment.

There are many companie’s that offer WEEE Compliance schemes and pick up trash from your doorstep so that it is dealt with in the appropriate fashion. This might cost you a tad bit, but it’s very little compare to what ill-disposed electronic waste causes to the planet. And of course you can always choose to donate the waste to your local church or school community which will gladly use your old laptop or even mobile and put it to good use.

Since most of us discard the old gadgets for new ones just to stay in style or because our technical requirements have outgrown the product, there is no reason why someone else could not use your perfectly good old device. And have you thought of those computer recycling programs offered by companies which are selling the products in the first place? You can mail your old monitors and systems back to the producer and most often they will deal with that responsibly.

A cool new initiative is being offered by Apple which appeals a lot to all the techno geeks who end up creating most of the electronic trash. Apple is willing to take in any old mobile phone or MP3 player and it will even send you the packaging.

Ilegally and obviously not morally correct to dispose off electronic waste in any other fashion, US and Europe are waking up to the fact, with large developing nations like China and India are turning into hot beds for poorly disposed electronic waste.

Images by maiac and zilpho

Remember the “funny” guy with the British humor that was talking to his bin? Well the story continues and this time we can understand more about the recycling campaign that mayor Boris Johnson is promoting for London.

“Despite recent reports of a downturn in the market for recycled materials the Mayor is confident that the recycling market will recover. Over 60 per cent of the rubbish we throw away can actually be recycled and yet Londoners on average are recycling 20 per cent of their waste. Now everyone in London can recycle paper, glass and cans at the very least and the message from the Recycle for London campaign is to reassure people and encourage them to recycle more.”

There is something we can do, right?