Waste removal isn't always fun, especially if the party was wild and garbage is all around. But no need to panic, keeping your environment tidy can certainly be amusing... just make an art out of it!This is exactly what five guys from France were doing when they invented a kind of underground trend sport called "Can Throwing". Really a spectacular hobby - and eco-friendly as well. Watch their amazing video!

This Spring week, News Checker is all about change, out with the old …and in with the new. While we try to find wireless solutions to replace all that toxic e-junk from the nineties, WIRED magazine has come up with a novel and hysterical way to dispose of old gadgets. The running is on for the best photograph of a gadget being destroyed. Known as "Gadget Abuse", I’m sure everyone has had at least one “smash your computer” moment. Surely?
More photos Here

Photo submitted by Nick Kiest from www.wired.com

We can dispose and forget about almost everything once we have used it, including an old car. But now there seems there is no more space even for those. Spiegel tells us about an “old timer” graveyard, where nature has taken over the old car parts, but may soon have to go. On a more creative note, Inhabitat points out the artwork of Phil Ross, made from recycled cell phones and “adapted cameras” ie the artist dumped a series of cameras into a cement mixer and ground them into future, recycled versions of themselves. Inspiring.

Part of the Chronic Revalator series by Phil Ross

Putting It In, To Dig Up Again Don't cap those landfills just yet, unless you are extracting the methane. Landfills underneath soil, subdivisions and newly created parks may be in danger of being opened up and mined. Everyone is looking to add an additional something to their revenue stream, in this case Garbage mining. The large American construction company Turner is now sorting and separating several hundred thousand tonnes of debris a month looking fore reusable materials. With the long commodities boom it had to happen many items that were thrown away are now worth something. Especially scrap metal which is worth recovering even in relatively small quantities. Some commodities are more precious such as silicon chips which are being mined by a Chinese company, Renesola to be reused in solar panels.
The Earth's Methane Cloud, Another Potent Greenhouse GasGreenhouse gas management has also resulted in some interesting purchases. Pig farms have also been purchased and are popular as methane can be be extracted from their runoff. Which keeps it out of the air and water and may also make possible some kind of carbon credit if properly managed as part of a CDM project.

The New York Times wrote about US brands that now make their way into recycling by shrinkening the packages of their products. Coca Cola and Mc Donald's for instances - by simply showing the new and old wrapping the paper makes this point. Here the whole text:May 12, 2007
Incredible Shrinking Packages
By CLAUDIA H. DEUTSCHMarketers usually boast about what they have added to their products. Increasingly, though, they are bragging about what they are taking out — by cutting down on packaging and its impact on the environment.Procter & Gamble, for example, has introduced rigid tubes for Crest toothpaste that can be shipped and displayed on shelves without boxes. Aveda, a beauty products company, is expected to soon roll out a men’s care line that is packaged in bottles made of 95 percent recycled materials.And Coca-Cola plans to cut the plastics in its Dasani water bottles by 7 percent over the next five years, just by tweaking the shape of the bottle and the cap.“Waste of any kind is inefficiency, and inefficiency equals cost,” said Scott Vitters, Coca-Cola’s director of sustainable packaging.The number of companies making such changes is growing sharply, as they try to reduce costs and address growing environmental concerns.And their ranks are expected to grow even more, because of Wal-Mart Stores. The world’s largest retailer, known for pressuring vendors to lower their prices, has begun pushing its 66,000 vendors to get rid of excess packaging.Wal-Mart has promised to become “packaging neutral” by 2025. That means that, through recycling, reusing or perhaps even composting, it will try to recover as much material as was used in the packaging that flows through its stores.To reach that goal, it is enlisting the help of vendors to cut back on their packaging — for the products themselves and by using less shrink wrap or cardboard for shipping.Wal-Mart introduced a “packaging scorecard” in February that lets vendors rate themselves on criteria like the ratio of package size to product and whether the package uses recycled material. The company may even pay more for products with better packaging, as long as it can recoup the money through recycling revenue or lowered disposal costs.“The consumer will see the same price, we’ll just be getting some of our money at the back end,” said Matt Kistler, a senior vice president for Sam’s Club, a unit of Wal-Mart.In fact, many companies began tinkering with their packaging long before Wal-Mart entered the fray. They do not expect consumers to buy their products purely for the package — but they are hoping that “greener” packages will give them a competitive edge over similar products, even as they hold down costs.And many companies that do not even distribute through Wal-Mart are also pushing to streamline packaging.Estée Lauder, for one, spent more than a year working with aluminum smelters to design tubes and caps made from 80 percent recycled aluminum. Much of the packaging of its holiday gift boxes is now made from recycled paper. And its Origins line is expected to soon ship only in folding cartons made with solar, wind or other clean energies.Environmental groups are playing their part, too. Four years ago, Environmental Defense, which was instrumental in getting McDonald’s to give up plastic foam clamshell packages in 1991, devised a calculator that enables package designers to compare the weight, recycled content and performance traits of about 20 materials.Recently, the tool was adopted by GreenBlue, a nonprofit research institute that operates the Sustainable Packaging Coalition. The Environmental Protection Agency has given GreenBlue a grant of $150,000 to further refine the tool.“Packaging offers major opportunities for reducing energy use and greenhouse gases, and for saving the $4 billion worth of materials that now ends up in landfills,” said Matt Hale, director of the agency’s Office of Solid Waste.Environmentalists applaud Wal-Mart’s involvement, but they want more. Environmental Defense, for example, wants Wal-Mart to give greater weight to greenhouse gases emitted when the paper, plastic or other packaging material are made — and to methane emitted from landfills if the final package is dumped.“We want them to look harder at the greenhouse gases associated with the package’s entire life cycle,” said Gwen Ruta, director of corporate partnerships for Environmental Defense, which is working with Wal-Mart to upgrade the scorecard.Many suppliers say they welcome the scrutiny from Wal-Mart. Nestlé Waters North America, which owns Poland Spring, Deer Park and other brands, said that it had saved 20 million pounds of paper in the last five years by using narrower labels on many bottles.It recently switched to clear caps that are more easily recycled. And it is rolling out half-liter bottles that contain 12.5 grams of plastics, among the lightest water bottles around.“I’m pretty sure we’ll score an A; let’s see if it translates into more business,” said Kim E. Jeffery, chief executive of Nestlé Waters, part of Nestlé.Many of the easy changes to packages have already been made. Beverage cans are much lighter than they were 10 years ago, and most use recycled aluminum. Deodorants are rarely packed in separate boxes now. Shipping cartons contain large percentages of recycled fiber.But a dearth of municipal programs to collect recyclable materials may hamper further progress. The E.P.A. is trying to persuade local governments that recycling makes economic sense. “It’s a useful argument with city councils,” Mr. Hale said.Another hurdle is that the need for durable, attractive packaging still bumps up against many plans to make packages green.McDonald’s, for example, has been steadily reducing the amount of virgin paper and plastic in the boxes that hold its fries and the lids that top its coffee cups.But when it tried shipping toys, cups and other nonfood items to its restaurants in biodegradable packages, the company found they could not withstand the heat inside the trucks. And it had to use more virgin fiber to attain the whiteness of its food bags.“We’re offsetting it with other package reductions, but that white bag is important to the brand,” said Bob Langert, the vice president for corporate social responsibility.Wal-Mart, too, has had to compromise. It tried biobased plastics for the 50-pound bags of dog food it sold at Sam’s Club, but they failed to provide an effective barrier to moisture and oxygen. So Sam’s has switched to bags made from woven conventional plastics.Even Marcal Paper, which sells paper products made from 100 percent recycled fiber, uses some polyethylene film for packaging. The film is easily molded to the product, and lets the customer see the contents, explained Peter A. Marcalus, a senior vice president.Packages that seem, at first glance, to be environmentally sound can create other problems. When bottles made of biobased plastics like polylactic acid are recycled along with conventional plastic bottles, they create a mix of molecules that is hard to reuse. And reusable containers, be they refillable glass bottles or stainless steel canisters, require a lot of energy to transport and to clean for reuse.Consumer behavior presents its own challenges, since smaller packages can appear to be more expensive than those with more packaging.Coke recently redesigned its classic contour bottles to be lighter and more impact-resistant. The new bottle looks smaller. “Our challenge is persuading consumers that they are getting the same volume in a better bottle,” Mr. Vitters said.Mr. Jeffery of Nestlé Waters said the company would begin an education campaign around its new bottles to “make sure that customers don’t think the bottles feel lighter because they hold less water.”And sometimes, aesthetics will trump environmentalism in the end, anyway. That recycled aluminum that Estée Lauder fought so hard for does not shine up well, and some of the brands refuse to use it.“That shiny cap is part of Clinique’s brand image,” said John A. Delfausse, vice president for package development at Estée Lauder. “And they will not switch.”

When Martin Furtner came to Berlin ten years ago, it could not yet have been predicted that the property around the Hackeschen Market in the former eastern part of the reunited city would become the center of gravitation for trendy agencies and design firms. Since then a store with retro and recycled furniture is located in Neue Schönhauser Straße with the fitting name “Schönhauser” (beautiful house).

The Garden Egg is a classical chair used in the former GDR before 1989.
Martin Furtner came from southern Germany to Berlin and since then has become the father of two children. People like himself are his best customers. Since Reunification one million people have left Berlin and exactly that many have moved into Berlin. Many of them have come into money and live in the “in” section of Berlin, Prenzlauer Berg. They like to spend their money on retro furniture and other high-quality merchandise. “In the past few years we have been selling mainly furniture from the 60’s and 70’s. Star designers like Charles Eames and George Nelson are more in demand than ever. People like having some patina.

Schoenhauser offers lamps, chairs, sofas, accessoires... patina guaranteed.
Schönhauser has a small branch in “Prenzelberg” – there we are in the center of the community where the people live who are interested in our furniture,” explains Furtner.“The recycling aspect certainly plays a role for a number of customers”, he states. “There are shapes – straight lines, cubes – that have such a timeless beauty about them and are still being purchased today.” Why buy new furniture? Beside the recycling aspect, there are the aspects of sustainability and efficiency. “If I have a chair or a table that is 30 years old, then I recognize that it is of very good quality, and if I handle it with care, it will survive the next 30 years.”“The sofa on which we are sitting”, says Furtner, “is a piece from the Swiss company de sede and is still being produced today.” Today’s price: 30,000 Euros. The sofa in Furtner’s showroom, however, costs only 8500 Euros.

"De Sede" sofa - mostly bought for the clubs of the Capital.
The sofa is trendy in color – brownish shades that are hip right now. “A few years ago chairs and armchairs were colorful. People soon tired of that.” At that time plastic furniture was in, today the favorite material is wood. The party haute couture of Germany’s capital visit Furtner’s shops regularly – for example DJ Dr. Motte who organized the well-known Love parade. The design branch in Berlin is booming at the moment. “Several years ago many architects who couldn’t find jobs started designing their own furniture and accessories”, explains Furtner. Since the economy is doing better now and people like to invest their money in furniture, these people have a better livelihood and are making a sustainable influence on Berlin. More at www.schoenhauser-design.de