Nickname: Sharon

Review: Great article Perman, I am working with a youth organisation in Australia and we are looking for great examples of business ideas for outback youth, who have little access to resources. Keep the good stories coming.

Date reviewed: May 6, 2009 9:17 AM

Nickname: was

Review: Great article about some very innovative uses of our garbage. To see another inventor's passion, see what Composite Technologies Corp. is doing in CA.

Date reviewed: Aug 29, 2006 5:18 PM

Nickname: Sandy

Review: Great article, but you missed one of the great uses. What about the company making playfields out of crumb rubber. I believe they are located in Guttenberg New Jersey and have done many many stadium fields. S.R. Simon

Date reviewed: Aug 24, 2006 1:30 AM

Nickname: violet

Review: The commercial oppotunities exist everywhere. Everyone can become an entrepreneur as you leave an eye on any-- even tiny--things around youself. However, I appreciate Reich not only for his contribution to our enviroment, but a perspective of converting garbage into gold!

Date reviewed: Aug 20, 2006 10:06 AM

Nickname: benchcardinal

Review: Rubber sidewalk. Brilliant. So long as there are enough discarded tires out there and it's cost effective, great. I remember reading in a Dennis the Menace cartoon (over 30 years ago) that tires could be ground up and mixed with asphalt to make roads that would last longer. Whatever happened to that idea?

Date reviewed: Aug 20, 2006 4:40 AM

Nickname: fastfred1

Review: Yeah, but it only lasts for seven years. Sounds like a lot of work and expense for only seven years.

Date reviewed: Aug 19, 2006 8:30 PM

Nickname: Bryan

Review: Even garbage that doesn't do anything besides sit in a landfill can be put to work. Prometheus Energy of Seattle, WA installs modular plants at landfills that covert landfill gas (methane and carbon dioxide from the anerobic decomposition of organic material) into LNG (liquified natural gas). Landfills typically must burn the gas off in flares, which produce only waste heat and air pollution. By contrast, the LNG can be used to fuel vehicles such as metro buses, fed into natural gas pipe lines, or used to power electrical generators. Combustion of methane produces significantly less pollution per unit of energy than diesel, gas, or coal. The cities and counties that run the landfills share in the profits, as they are paid for a resouce that they previously had to dispose of as a waste, at significant cost.

Date reviewed: Aug 19, 2006 4:21 AM

Nickname: Curt

Review: That's a wonderful article. I can't vouch for it because my best friend and I started an "e-waste" recycling business in San Jose, CA. Both of us are 22 year old, full-time college students. Going "Green" can make you some greenbacks!

Date reviewed: Aug 19, 2006 1:41 AM