Impact

BEAUTIFUL RECYCLED VACATIONS

While we take a break this week, enjoy this Best of BeautifulNow Vacations post: BEAUTIFUL RECYCLED VACATIONS.

Can we interest you in a beautiful recycled vacation on an abandoned oil rig, inside an old plane, outside a house made of empty beer cans, or perhaps atop a closed landfill? Wait… they’re spectacular… we promise… read on!

How about a vacation at a recycled oil rig? It doesn’t sound pretty, but it is! The Seaventures Dive Resort, off the coast of Malaysian Borneo, repurposed an abandoned oil rig, to the delight of deep sea divers and snorkelers who want to explore the magnificent coral reefs under the Celebes Sea.

Seaventures is a PADI 5 Star IDC Dive Resort that sits right in the heart of one of the best reef areas in the world, known as the coral triangle, just south of Malaysia, near Mabul, Kapalai, and Sipadan Islands, rich in sunken ships that have become artificial reefs.

The Rig has an elevator that lowers divers directly into schools of barracuda, groupers, cuttlefish, turtles, giant morays, ribbon eels, frog fish, scorpion fish, crocodile flatheads, lion fish, nudibranchs and ghost pipe fish.

This might be the best overnight in a plane you will ever have. That’s because this 1965 Boeing 727 has been recycled and now serves as an exclusive suite at the Costa Verde, a luxury hotel in Costa Rica.

The plane was salvaged from it’s San Jose airport “graveyard” and refitted with beautifully crafted local teak wood paneling. Costa Verde makes most of its furniture, using wood from naturally downed trees. It recycles wood waste, using it as mulch or burning to fuel its barbecues and pizza ovens.

This jumbo suite sits nestled on the edge of the National Park, perched atop a 50-foot pedestal. You get amazing ocean and jungle views from the hard wood deck built atop the plane's former right wing. And you get to hang out with your treetop neighbors: sloths, toucans, monkeys, and more.

There is a private entrance up a river rock, spiral staircase. And there are 360 degrees of surrounding gardens.

It may not be the main reason to pick Houston as a travel destination unless you really are a recycling freak, but, if you happen to be going anyway, definitely check out the Beer Can House. It’s pretty freaky. And it's beautiful.

John Milkovisch, an upholsterer for the Southern Railroad, began to build this beauty in 1968, when he began to embed thousands of marbles, rocks, and metal scraps into concrete to create an artificial landscape to replace his lawn and garden.

As more people began to clad their houses with aluminum siding in the 1970’s, Milkovisch, decided to make his own siding -- out of flattened beer cans.

Milkovisch also created fancy aluminum garlands, curtains, and wind chimes out of the beer-can tops. It took him 18 years to finish it all.

According to Ripley's Believe It or Not, more than 50,000 cans were used in this genius recycling project. That’s tantamount to a six-pack a day over the course of 20 years!

The Albany Bulb (aka The Bulb) is a landfill located on a thin strip of wetland, in Albany, California, which extends into the south east San Francisco Bay.

It was created in 1963 as a dump for construction materials and it was closed in 1987. Because of its size and inaccessibility, the park has been difficult for the police to patrol, and so it evolved into a hangout for the homeless, partying teens, graffiti artists, and dogs.

It also became a funky art mecca. Sculptors Scott Hewitt, Scott Meadows, and David Ryan, installed a series of large driftwood sculptures. They were joined by a concrete TV, a dragon sculpture, and a graffiti shrine known as "The Castle."

Check out the "Landfillian Library," filled with hundreds of books, donated to Jimbow the Hobow, the "head librarian." The books are not only free to borrow, but are free to keep. And the collection keeps growing.

The future of the Bulb is uncertain. Hurry for a visit before it gets turned into a shopping mall or some other gentrification monstrosity.

After you’re done visiting the landfill, you might want to wash up.

You know those sweet little hotel soaps you use only a few times then leave behind? What a waste, right?

Now, a growing number of hotels are participating with a new program, developed by Global Soap, which collects the leftover soaps, purifies them, and reforms them for reuse.

Much of the work is done by volunteers. The recycled soap is donated to people who otherwise would have no access to soap. A win-win-win!

Read more about Beautiful Vacations, as they relate to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact. Including Beautiful Retreat Treats, Fascinating Beach Dunes Now, A Grape Place To Stay, The Art of Vacations Now, Beautiful Places To Go Right Now and Bodies & Mind Peak Outdoors.

Enter your own images and ideas about Beautiful Vacations in this week’s creative Photo Competition. Open for entries now until 11:59 p.m. PT on 08.17.14. If you are reading this after that date, check out the current BN Creative Competition, and enter!