Recycling reaches new heights as home improvement companies look at more creative aspects of sustainability.
Those bottles turned in at the recycling center have many other options once they're processed at the plant. They can be reshaped and cut into different sizes that can be used for shelves and flooring. A Florida company called Coverings markets them as bio-glass, made from 100 percent recycled materials.
"Becoming different products, they're not just becoming a new bottle, but some of them actually get used for aesthetic purposes so it's a different concept," says Rick Lau of the Hawaii Home Expo.
The company also makes a product called bio-luminum, which you'd think was made from all those aluminum cans. But the company thought big on this one. The recycled aluminum used for decorative pieces actually come from decomissioned airplanes.
"I don't know what happens to a decomissioned airplane and I'm assuming it's not as easy to recycle as the can that we bring to recycling centers. So it's something that's gonna keep those out of the junkyards, out of the landfills," Lau says.
Terazzo is another one that has a greener counterpart. The marble, granite, and stone mixture in a cast of concrete can also be made from recycled products called Eco-Terr. Hawaii Home Expo is a local distributor of the green products. General Manager Rick Lau says the materials have a unique look. But he points out that they are more expensive, partly because of the shipping cost from Florida.
"So that makes it a little cost prohibitive but the look sometimes are worth it for some people and just the satisfaction of knowing that you have a very green product," Lau says.
Lau says these products are brand new to the Hawaii market. So anyone willing to spend more can be on the cutting edge of being green.
