Turn Annoying Junk Mail Into Dishes with Junk Press

There are days when all I find in my mailbox is junk mail. Coupons for products I’ll never buy, ads for businesses I’ve never heard of, and this time of year 847 political flyers per day. I don’t dare miss a day cleaning out the box, though, because I shudder to think of how full it will get. Virtually none of it is recyclable, which makes me crazy. It just ends up in the trash, about a pound of paper a week, filling up the landfill and generally being a pain from the day they harvest the tree to create it to the day it finally disintegrates into the soil.

Now there is Junk Press (not to be confused with the Urban Dictionary entry by the same name). In the interest of full disclosure, it is NOT as simple as the picture above would indicate; you cannot just stick an ad circular into the press and come out with a bowl. But it does turn your unwanted junk mail into usable plates, bowls, and coasters, so while junk mail cannot be recycled through traditional means, you can recycle it at home for your own use.

Basically, you tear up your junk mail and stick it in a blender. Add liquid and blend to a pulp. Then choose your mold and scoop the pulp into Junk Press, and voila! You have a bowl. Or a plate, or coaster. These dishes end up being thicker and sturdier than store-bought disposable dishes, with the added bonus of them being free. You’re also helping out the environment by getting some use out of your junk mail before tossing it in the trash.

Unfortunately, this is just a design concept at the moment. But it would not surprise me in the least to see this, or something similar, on the market soon.

Source: TreeHugger