How 1.5 million plastic bottles are turned into clothing every day
We visited Tamil Nadu, India, to see how polyester, one of the world's most popular fabrics, is made using recycled PET water bottles.
Grant Tyler
Senior Videographer & Editor
How Nespresso and Keurig spend millions trying to solve coffee-pod waste
Coffee companies like Keurig and Nespresso produce almost 50 billion single-serve coffee pods a year. Club Coffee makes a compostable alternative.
How turning flower waste into natural dyes can reduce pollution
Worshippers in India give millions of tons of floral offerings yearly. One business is turning the leftover flowers into natural dye for clothing.
Can "golden fiber" from swamp reeds replace plastic?
Bangladesh was the first country to ban single-use plastic bags. Nearly two decades later, it's turning to jute as a suitable alternative to plastic.
Cardboard is one of the most recycled materials, but it still takes piles of trees to produce it every year
Cardboard has a high recycling rate in the US. But it can't be reused forever, so making it also consumes millions of trees each year.
How Disney's magical trash tubes ended up in New York City
Disney's Magic Kingdom has a network of tubes to hide trash. There's one other system like it in the whole US, on New York City's Roosevelt Island.
Rare metals found on seabeds could be key to green technology, but mining them could wreak ecological havoc on the ocean floor
Deep-sea mining allows access to necessary materials for green technology, but it could pose a threat to marine life on the ocean floor.
Recyclers reject most plastic. This company turns it into furniture.
Packaging for lotion, toothpaste, and makeup is a recycling disaster. But a UK business is turning it into plywood-like boards to make furniture.
10 surprising things you can recycle, from flip-flops to human hair
Brilliant minds around the world are finding new ways to reuse and repurpose your chopsticks, your flip-flops, your hair, and even your body.
How one company in Pakistan recycles over a million pairs of jeans every year
We make over 1 billion pairs of jeans every year, nearly all end up in landfills. One company in Pakistan is recycling old denim into new pants.
Rocks vacuumed off the seafloor can power electric cars. But is mining the ocean worth it?
A mining startup says seafloor rocks can help power the switch away from fossil fuels. But critics say it's not worth the ecological destruction.
How seaweed could replace plastic bags and packaging
A startup makes compostable thin-film plastic out of seaweed. It gets the seaweed from farms, which can create jobs and provide natural habitats.
Making eyeglasses from coffee grounds in Ukraine
Most used coffee grounds go to landfills. This Ukrainian startup is making them into eyeglass frames and cases, despite the ongoing war with Russia.
Why asphalt is one of the world's most recycled materials
Asphalt pavement can be reused over and over, but regulations often limit the recycled content of roads to around 30%.
VIDEO: How flip-flop art is helping clean Kenya's beaches
Flip-flops make up about 25% of ocean plastic in some places. One company in Kenya is turning old sandals into colorful works of art.
VIDEO: How sand made from crushed glass is rebuilding Louisiana's shrinking coast
Two college students founded one of Louisiana's only glass-recycling companies. They're turning glass into sand and using it for coastal restoration.
How two brothers are turning busted skateboards into bowls, furniture, and jewelry
Two brothers in Calgary, Canada, turned their love of skateboarding into a business upcycling skateboards into bowls and furniture.
How a queer Indian fashion designer rose to the top in Bollywood
Param Sahib is a fashion designer based in Delhi creating clothes and accessories. We visited Param's workshop to learn how these looks are created.
Meet the artist making leather harnesses for all bodies
Emma Alamo is a leatherworker from Chicago who creates custom handmade leather harnesses for queers, femmes, and all bodies.
Meet the tattoo artist breaking race and gender barriers
Tann Parker is the founder of Ink The Diaspora, a tattoo platform that challenges racism and gender barriers in the tattoo industry.