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.
To encourage students to recycle their empty pizza boxes, this school has a special recycling bin just for that purpose. How cool and neat.
I absolutely hate litter, especially at the beach. This beach has infoboxes on how long it takes commonly trashed items to decompose. Genius.
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.
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.
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.
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.
If you can believe it, these snow pants were actually made from recycled Mountain Dew bottles. Say what? That's so unbelievably cool.
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?
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.
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.
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.
What a cool way to reward your customers. This beach cafe will give you free coffee in exchange for a bucket of beach rubbish.
No need for plastic at this UK McDonalds. Now they give you a paper straw instead. I wish they would do that here. Right?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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?
To reduce waste, this soap has no middle. No annoying sliver of soap to throw away when it's worn down!
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.
I only recently found out that cigarette butts are actually recyclable. This disposal station will not only prevent litter, but also recycle them.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
If your local grocery store is still providing those plastic bags, maybe you can suggest to them to at least use compostable ones instead.
We are all here together, so let's protect the world.
