I try to keep up-to-date on as many of the current recycling efforts as I possibly can because I feel strongly that reusing resources is one of the most important ways we have of reducing pollution, or at least dealing with it in a way that reduces the damage caused by the resource usage in the first place. One of the resources that see a lot of usage is cardboard, yet I often see the resource wasted in various ways or simply added to a dump somewhere. That’s why an article entitled, “Cardboard bicycle can change the world, says Israeli inventor” attracted my attention. The fact that the bicycle looks nothing like cardboard is interesting, but even more interesting is that this inventor plans to use cardboard for a wealth of other products where metal is traditionally used today.
I find it interesting that the inventor thinks he might be able to use cardboard for items such as cars. I’m not sure what the ramifications of such use would be, but it’s definitely going to prove interesting. For example, what would happen to a cardboard car in an accident? The point is that people are finding ways to use items that would be traditionally labeled junk in all sorts of ways that make the item useful again. At one time the world practiced reuse in significant ways and it looks like we’re headed in that direction again today. It’s no longer possible to waste resources as we have in the past.
What would you think about riding a bicycle made of cardboard? Can you think of other uses for resources such as cardboard that might reduce the burden on landfills? In fact, can you think of a way to reduce trash to the point where landfills aren’t even necessary any longer? The idea of recycling absolutely everything isn’t quite possible today because of the way things are packaged. However, with some effort and clever thinking, it may become possible to recycle absolutely everything at some point, but then we’ll need to have people willing to buy the recycled products. Let me know your ideas at [email protected].