Recycled Plastic Used in Products for Home

    Ever wonder what happens to those plastic soft drink and water bottles you send off to be recycled?

    Remember the tooth fairy? With inflation, the cost per tooth is breaking the bank, so she's now moonlighting as the recycle fairy. Presently she's turning plastic bottles into carpet. Did you know it takes 32 two-liter bottles to weave one square inch of carpet? That's a lot of bottles. Some carpet manufacturers use up to 528 million, non-biodegradable bottles from landfills each year. Good news for the environment - a lot of work for the tooth fairy.

    What other home products are made from recycled plastic? How about picnic tables. They are so durable that a 50-year limited warranty accompanies most of them. The tables are virtually maintenance free as they require no painting, they are not appetizing to termites and they won't rot. The plastic used to make this product is a commingling of used plastics including milk jugs. How many gallons do you have to drink to make one table? 6,428.

    Instead of using wood for your deck and/or fence, consider using recycled plastic. The plastic can be worked like wood yet does not splinter like wood. Here again it is unaffected by insects, rot and fungus and it lasts up to 15 times longer than wood.

    Furniture designers are getting creative with this recycled stuff. The other day I was shown a picture of a dining table with the base made of recycled plastic. Three S-shaped curves act as the support. The separate top can be either glass or, you guessed it, recycled plastic.

    ROSEMARY SADEZ FRIEDMANN, AN INTERIOR DESIGNER IN NAPLES, FLA., IS THE AUTHOR OF MYSTERY OF COLOR.

    Originally published by Rosemary Sadez Friedmann Scripps Howard.

    (c) 2007 Augusta Chronicle, The. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.