There is a certain advantage that green initiatives bring to the companies that take them up and when giants like Coca-Cola step up for the planet’s cause you tend to understand how big the green movement has got across the globe. Going green is quite simply the best PR you can generate and more and more firms/people are realizing this fact. Irrespective of the motive though the good thing is that it all benefits the planet and at the end of the day that is what counts the most. Making an announcement that it is now distributing plastic bottles of Coke and other beverages made with up to 30% plant-based material, Coke has taken the initiative in reducing the non-decomposable plastic waste caused due t the use of PET bottles.

Coke aims to produce 2 billion PlantBottles by the end of 2010 as a part of its long term goal to create PET bottles that are made from 100% renewable raw materials and yet are completely recyclable. The current PlantBottle of Coke uses molasses from the sugarcane industry as its main plan-ingredient and in future the company plans to increase the content of the plant-component in the bottles. While a 100% plant-based bottle cannot store carbonated drinks, this fusion seems like the best way possible for now.

With Coke even embracing the green logo, it just seems that firms are lining up to occupy the moral high ground and win over consumers when it comes to going green, the entire process can only mean a ‘cooler’ future for the planet!

triplepundit

The path towards a greener future is mainly dependant on the three principles of recycle, reduce and reuse. Recycling is a concept that is fast becoming popular across the planet with various designers, artists and craftsman quickly and effortlessly adapting to this latest trend. With their unmatched ingenuity and creative brilliance giving brilliant shape and precise function to seemingly useless trash, recycling is no longer a concept relegated to eco-geeks. The Handmade Fair trade urban backpack Pangolin for men and women is another one of those useful recycled items. Made from recycled inner tubes of trucks, nylon and canvas, this ultra-stylish and uber-cool backpack looks nothing like an accessory that has been rehashed or as if made from discarded waste.

The parts are alternately covered with recycled inner tubes of trucks attached to each other with a wing nut creating overlapping sliding parts that give the backpack the impression of an Armadillo back! Sporting three-button closure with durable rip-stop lining, Velcro interior and enough space to carry around everything you need from your MP3 player to your Notebook, the Backpack from Cyclus seems like a must for those who love to lead the way when it comes to fashion trends.

Considering that this handcrafted backpack is made by people from Colombia with a social disadvantage, such as single mothers, refugees and Indians of the Camentsa tribe, every single penny that you spend on this € 190 black beauty is surely well-spent!

Wannekes

Recycling paper has taken a whole new turn in India with the once famous but now discarded being turned into utility objects that can be carried out by one and all. It seems that a few of the street children in the Indian capital have been rescued from the clutches of poverty and have been provided with a part-time employment scheme in which they recycle old posters of Indian movies into new bags that cane be carried around for shopping. A project initiated by a voluntary organization now aims both at recycling the old waste and also providing a means of living for those on the street.

The bags are also crafted from old newspapers as well and the organization is now looking for suppliers and dealers across the planet to try and sell their products worldwide. While few might question the project as it makes young teens work for their bread and butter, the fact that it both cleans up the planet and provides food and shelter for the homeless is truly commendable. So, next time you come across a newspaper bag, maybe you can pick it up despite the crossword being already filled!

Boingboing

You are guaranteed that you will not find another pair of Jordans like this anywhere else on the planet and in that sense, the ‘Junk Dunk’ Nike-styled pair of shoes offers you exclusivity that even Nike themselves might struggle to offer. Designed by artist Gabriel Dishaw, this very special piece of footwear is crafted from metal scraps and discarded parts of old computers making it the perfect showpiece in the home of any tech-geek. Though not very comfortable to sport and walk around in, this art piece would surely make for a great conversation piece and maybe even an inspiration when it comes to professing the message of recycling.

With each year global electronic waste growing exponentially and landfills vanishing at a fast pace, recycling and reuse are the only ways of saving our planet from an impending doom. This symbolic masterpiece by Dishaw both advocates the ‘green’ philosophy and also adds a very cool and trendy edge to it. Wish to promote ‘eco-friendly’ ideology among the young sports fans? Then it might be hard to find a more compelling piece of work to get them initiated on the green path than these Jordans… Up for sale, grab a pair right now!

Gabrieldishaw

These days everyone wants to go green and sometimes irrespective of their actual capability in that direction, they at the very least want to claim that they have gone green. Sure every small step goes a long way in making our planet better, but can we really brand something ‘clean and green’ just because a few things have been tweaked here and there? Southwest Airlines effort to go green, though commendable, seems to be just a minor step towards a much bigger change that needs to happen. Which is why, we are a bit skeptical about its latest plane being called a ‘Green Plane Prototype’!

The new and dashing set of wings unveiled by Southwest sport green interiors such as the InterfaceFlor carpet that designed to withstand wear, is 100% recyclable and requires bare minimum in terms of maintenance, eco-friendly material for their seats instead of traditional leather and a few other changes that will reduce the weight of the carrier itself. While the change of material and the effort to reduce weight and hence fuel consumption overall is indeed very noble, a ‘Green Prototype’ probably needs to be a lot more that just a ‘refurbished interior’.

While we might be asking for a giant leap rather than many tiny steps towards the goal, it is only because the aviation industry needs speeding considering the state of the planet today. Can those who fly in the sky please find similar pace when it comes to eco-friendly reforms as well!

Cleantechnica

Wondering how to dispose-off your out-of-fashion Vespa scooter that is neither doing you nor the environment any good? Well, the Spanish design studio Bel & Bel shows you an inventive way to put this polluting, petroleum-powered scrap to good use in a corporate set up. The studio brought forth a chain of office furniture made out of recycled vintage Vespa scooters.

This collection of handmade chairs makes use of the front shield and spare parts of old Vespas coupled with aesthetically chosen leather hues would blend into any kind of office interiors. This unique style of recycling deserves appreciation and applauds because it’s not only saving wood that would otherwise be used to shape-up the office furnishings, but also getting rid of the metallic scooter parts that would otherwise lay in trash piles.

Though we have seen many kinds of recycled furniture in the past, we have to agree that the conversion of these unfashionable two-wheelers into everyday use furniture is definitely an art that only Bel & Bel could think of and have excelled in.

Via Autoblog Green

The SUV is the bad boy of the auto world when it comes to the opinion of the environmentalists, who have founds this large gas-guzzling behemoth both unnecessary and extravagant. The fact that the vehicles are still loved across the planet by many an on-road and off-road adventurer is though an uncomfortable truth that one cannot deny. The likes of the Hummer just refuse to fade away despite the green cries, but here is at least a fitting finale to the SUV’s life; a conversion that the eco-geeks would be proud of.

Conjured up and crafted by Dr. Jonathan Rosen, and a team of doctors, engineers and designers of CIMIT, this is a low-cost incubator that has been salvaged from a discarded Toyota 4Runner. That’s right, the grand automobile has been turned into a safe heaven for a new-born and the team claims that the latest incubator could save the lives of two million newborns in the Third World, who otherwise would die after a premature birth. Considering the cost of a traditional incubator is around € 28,000, this € 700 incubator could be a real life saver indeed!

Via: Unomasenlafamilia / Quo

Just like that first step that man took on moon many decades ago, the Armstrong Bin tries to take the first small step towards saving the planet which will add up and culminate into one giant green wave for entire mankind. This space-age styled dustbin designed by Sukwon Park and Sungwoo Park allows you to compress trash to an extent where the volume of the garbage is drastically cut down thanks to the strength of your feet. Just fill in this rippled container with all that you can fit into it and then step on it to ensure that space is saved when this goes in the landfill.

While one would feel that this is a great way to start off with saving the planet and that might be true to a small extent, the fact that Armstrong Bin does not encourage recycling and reusing of materials is a bit of a downer. Considering that most dumps already do the compressing job, it seems that this small step into the world of eco-consciousness is actually very, very tiny!

Link: Tuvie

Green responsibility and eco-consciousness is something that needs to extend a lot beyond a single day and that is exactly why we are bringing you the Mode Deluxe Recycler on the occasion of Earth Day. While the $200 price tag on the gadget might be a bit hard to get a pass in these recession hit times, we are sure the green savvy will find a way around the green bucks trouble. With an ability to recycle paper, plastic and glass in three separate compartments and a capacity of 17-gallon, this is for those households that put in plenty of trash in their plastic bags each week!

With an options to pre-set a recycling day reminder that suits your needs, the Recycler center is also a fine alternative for all of us who are forget about such trivial stuff by getting engrossed in the TV soaps and Saturday night sports frenzy… So how about bringing home some order to your junk?

Link: peoplepoweredmachines /greenlaunches

Prison movies always leave people with a sick feeling of thrill, mixture of fear and the desire to experience life inside a prison. Committing a serious crime may not be such a good idea to get this kinky kick but perhaps help is on the way for lost souls who have considered doing this.

The Prison Service at U.K. gets rid of 50,000 mattresses a year and with the increase in prison population, 60,000 more is bought every year. In a bid to decrease the number of mattresses being thrown away as waste, the Prison Services have decided to try a strange, slightly disturbing, method of recycling. One of the methods involves using the mattresses for the production of carpets, fence panels and roof tiles. If he thought that a serial murderer at one time had rapturous dreams of going on a killing spree while sleeping on your carpet that had once been his bed doesn’t disturb you, then this could be a great idea.

The recycle-mattress-into-carpet project is undergoing trials with one company and if this is successful then many more prison services from other countries would surely join in. Just make sure none of your carpets are by the souls of tormented prisoners.

Via: GreenBiz