Some vacuum cleaners come from the sea (image gallery)

March 13th, 2012

Appliance News Vacuums & Floor Care

Trust Electrolux – with it’s edgy, innovative designs – to come up with a series of vacuum cleaners that have been made from plastic taken out of the world’s oceans.

The Vac from the Sea concept was created to raise awareness about the 143 billion kilograms of plastic floating about the oceans and the threat it poses to marine habitats.

According to Electrolux, using recycled plastic to make sustainable appliances is crucial. The company is committed to green appliances in Australia, too.

In fact, last year Electrolux UltraSilencer won the sustainability award in the Australian International Design Awards. The winning product is made from 55 per cent recycled plastics and uses a 35 per cent more efficient engine than the average 2000-watt.

Here are the Vacs from the Sea:

The plastic in the Pacific is bleached by the sun and corroded by salt. Red and dark objects are mistaken as food and so attract birds, fish and other marine life.

Food containers, bottles and toys make up the tourist trash on the beaches of the Mediterranean Sea. This plastic was picked up in Marseille and cut into heartshaped pieces and then attached to the industrially recycled plastic.

In Sweden, detergent bottles, cans, and plastic buckets dominate. It's not bleached in the same way as in the great oceans. This plastic was found covered in spill oil first so it had to be cleaned before being punched into circles.

This Thai plastic was collected from beaches and underwater, picked off the reef by divers. It is mostly fishing gear such as nets and ropes. Styrofoam, buckets and plastic bags are also very common.

See other amazing design ideas from Electrolux at it’s Design Lab.