One man's trash is another man's...

Reusing and recycling items to make them new again is one of the best and most creative ways to be eco-friendly. I came across a few brilliant examples of turning trash into treasure.




Architect Adam Kalkin sees used shipping containers as a way to contain...people. The architect arranged 12 containers under one roof for a retreat in Maine.











The brilliant minds at Studio Arne Quinze, an architecture firm headquartered in Belgium used many reclaimed items when building L’Eclaireur, a multi-label fashion store owned by the fascinating Armand Hadida. Amongst using plenty of reclaimed wood and cardboard, recycled aluminum priner plates were used to fashion much of the stores surfaces. Wow! Who knew that a printer plate could be so chic!









Starbucks-I'm pretty sure we've all been there...at least once...at least once today. Most Starbucks look the same until a new one sprung up late last year in Seattle's Capitol Hill area. It's part of a three-store test to see how more independent Starbucks stores fare. This particular Starbucks, known as 15th Ave Coffee & Tea is fashioned out of reclaimed barn wood provided by Pioneer Millworks who received two Grand Prize awards from the Association for Retail Environments (A.R.E.) for specialty food retailer of the year.