In this world of excess and the over-use of plastic, it’s amazing to see that some people take the environment into consideration when they design something.
The following clever ideas are not just smart engineering, but they’re also good for the environment. I really wish we could see more of these in the future.
1. Pizza Box Recycle Receptacle
To encourage students to recycle their empty pizza boxes, this school has a special recycling bin just for that purpose. How cool and neat.
2. Info Box At The Beach
I absolutely hate litter, especially at the beach. This beach has infoboxes on how long it takes commonly trashed items to decompose. Genius.
3. Compostable Shipping Bag
How amazing that this company ships their items in a real dirt bag, which is fully compostable instead of using plain plastic bags? Truly awesome.
4. Smart Water Fountain
Feel good every time you take a drink out of this water fountain. It tells you how many plastic bottles have been saved by using it.
5. Recycle Reminder
This smoothie company sends a cool recycling reminder to their customer via their bottle so you never forget to recycle it after drinking it. How clever.
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6. The Recycle Process
If you’re the type of person that finds everything fascinating, you’ll love this. These recycling containers show you the breakdown of recycling glass, plastic, and aluminum.
7. Snow Pants Made From Mountain Dew Bottles
If you can believe it, these snow pants were actually made from recycled Mountain Dew bottles. Say what? That’s so unbelievably cool.
8. Eco-Friendly Envelope
This bank uses an eco-friendly envelope that you can put in the ground and the flower seeds within the paper will grow. How amazing is that?
9. Laminated Doctor’s Office Forms
This dentist office has its forms laminated to reduce paper waste by simply entering data into the computer and then wiping it off. Awesome idea.
10. Gum Recycling Depot
This train station in Britain has a gum recycling depot where you deposit your gum without throwing it on the ground, thus saving birds and the environment.
11. Eco-Friendly Rugs
This appliance store sells these eco-friendly rugs that are made out of old newspapers. So they’re cool, chic and environmentally friendly. I love that idea.
12. Free Coffee For Beach Litter
What a cool way to reward your customers. This beach cafe will give you free coffee in exchange for a bucket of beach rubbish.
13. This Paper Straw
No need for plastic at this UK McDonalds. Now they give you a paper straw instead. I wish they would do that here. Right?
14. Staple Free Stapler
Who knew that you can actually staple documents together without the use of metal staples? I didn’t know that. This is so cool and environmentally friendly.
15. This Stickerless Avocado
Why bother with stickers on produce when you can just engrave them via laser with all the info you need? So great for reducing plastic use.
16. Lead By Example
If you’re going to push recycling, you may as well do it by example. These recycling bins are made from recycled cardboard. What a great idea.
17. Compostable Paper Towels
This restaurant in Kalamazoo, Michigan composts all their used paper towels and turns them into the soil. That is such a responsible idea. Loving this.
18. Clear Instructions
This restaurant displays where to put the products they sell once you are finished with them (trash, recycle, and compost). I wish all restaurants would do this.
19. This Plastic Bottle
This plastic water bottle tells you exactly which of its parts can actually be recycled. This is neat. I didn’t know labels weren’t recyclable.
20. Strawless Lids
This Starbucks in China uses caps on iced beverages that don’t require a straw to drink. I think they’re starting to do that everywhere now. Yay!
21. Fettuccine Stir Sticks
This coffee shop uses dried fettuccine pasta instead of plastic coffee stir sticks. That is one of the best ideas I’ve ever seen. Don’t you think?
22. This Soap Design
To reduce waste, this soap has no middle. No annoying sliver of soap to throw away when it’s worn down!
23. This Trash Bin
So apparently, this cool trash bin has a holder for returnable bottles so people can take them without digging in the bin. Wow, that’s neat.
24. This Used Cigarette Butt Stand
I only recently found out that cigarette butts are actually recyclable. This disposal station will not only prevent litter, but also recycle them.
25. This Restaurant Ceiling
How cool is it that this restaurant’s ceiling is actually made from recycled wooden pallets? Not only does this look really awesome, but what a smart idea.
26. This Dog Toy
Turns out some dog toys come with a recyclable bottle sown into them. Why? Perhaps it’s to save on putting stuffing inside of it?
27. This Tap Water Solution
You can’t exactly prevent water from dripping, so why not put it to good use? I think this a great way to stop water waste.
28. These Pub Toilets
Talk about unique bathroom decor here. Hee, hee. These toilets at a pub are made from recycled beer barrels. Wow, how amazingly fitting. Right? Very cool.
29. These Wooden Utensils
It’s nice to see that even big chains like McDonald’s are now starting to include environmentally-friendly stuff like these wooden utensils. It’s about time.
30. This Newspaper Shopping Bag
Plastic bags have been banned in many parts of India. Shopkeepers are using bags made out of recycled newspapers with rope made from coconut fibers.
31. These Compostable Produce Bags
If your local grocery store is still providing those plastic bags, maybe you can suggest to them to at least use compostable ones instead.
I’m always so impressed when I find clever designs that take into account the protection and safety of the environment.
We are all here together, so let’s protect the world.