Let's Repurpose Our Mindsets

When I read an article titled, "How to Mine Cobalt Without Going to Congo," I learned Canadian scientists have figured out how to produce the cobalt (and lithium) needed to power electric cars from batteries that fail quality control tests and now end up in hazardous-waste dumps, buried in the ground, or giving off toxic emissions as they burn. When as many as 118 million electric cars take the road in 2030, more batteries will stop working. That means more rare metals can be recycled from old batteries to produce replacements.

The idea of recycling cobalt from worn out electric car batteries started me thinking about how many examples of repurposing I've become aware of lately. It reminded me of how I started noticing how many people wore glasses after I began wearing them in fifth grade.

In the fashion industry, designer Stella McCarthy endorsed the MacArthur Foundation's report that urged increasing the less than 1% of material now made from the used clothing and textiles that end up in landfills. In the July, 2018 issue of VOGUE, eco-conscious model, Gisele, cites the statistic that "between eight and thirteen million tons of clothing ends up in landfills every year."  Already, women in India turn their old saris into quilts. A young designer I know began her path to a career by using the material from her mother's worn hijabs.

On "American Pickers," the TV hosts travel through the U.S. looking for parts to rebuild old cars, motorcycles, and bicycles. They also come across pharmacy cabinets, industrial lamps, moldings, signs, and award trophies that can be used in new ways and as decorative objects in homes and restaurants. When you think about it, eBay made a big business out of giving used items a new purpose in life the way yard sales and thrift stores do on a smaller scale.

I guess I was subconsciously trying out a new repurpose mindset when I read about the "convolute" that ILC (formerly Playtex) designed to enable astronauts to move their arms, legs, and hands while wearing an airtight, protective spacesuit on the moon. To me, the flexible, but somewhat rigid, ribbed rubber and dacron "convolute" looked like a sleeve that could be repurposed to stabilize a person's shaking or weak arms and legs and better enable him or her to hold items and walk.

As Christmas approaches, I'm reminded that the stable in the creche scene at our church was made as an Eagle Scout project by a young man who found the wood in an old barn a farmer was about to burn.

What items have you repurposed? (Also see the earlier post, "Dump the Dump.")