Green Options

Ever wonder what you could do with an old mattress? It’s pretty easy to think of ways to reused discarded clothing and bottles and cans, but a mattress?

That is the challenge set forth in Open Architecture Network’s contest: Discarded Dreams.

With over 40 million mattresses discarded every year in the U.S., this challenge asks that over 80% of the mattress be reused. Careful consideration should be made to the mattress’ deconstruction, as the Open Architecture Network is looking for a way to divert these mattresses away from the landfill and into new life.

The post-Katrina rebuilding effort in New Orleans has a long way to go, but some residents, activists and volunteers are celebrating one small but noteworthy step after another toward a more sustainable city.

Their efforts take on a special poignancy with the start of yet another hurricane season (it officially began on June 1, though the tropical system Arthur formed a day early around the Yucatan Peninsula). With lingering La Niña conditions and water temperatures in parts of the Gulf of Mexico already a degree or two above average, there’s reason to be concerned.