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Bathrooms Bathroom Sinks Green Building Green Decorating

Sinks crafted from recycled rubber, glass and more make for showstopping bathroom features
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and are more affordable than ever

Michelle Jeresek Follow

I co-own departure: architecture planning interiors in Portland, Oregon,... More »

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f bath sinks haven't made your heart pound, stay with me, friends, because the humble bath
lav doesn't need to be so ho-hum. Plus, some of the sexiest sinks are green to boot. In fact,
these salvaged and recycled-content lavs might leave you gazing downward instead of in the
mirror.

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Recycled rubber sinks. Hubba hubba! Minarc's sleek and sustainable RUBBiSH recycled
Janice Harper: Soul Food: Or How to
rubber sink begins with old rubber tires that are melted and purified, then formed into a sheet Give Your Kitchen More Soul
The secret to soul in a kitchen is not in what
that's stretched over a base frame and anchored to the drain collar to form the sink. My tires
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Salvaged sinks.
anything bowl-like can be a sink, as long as a hole can be drilled in it and a drain can be
connected. This salvaged cast-metal basin makes a stunning and character-rich counterpart to
the mod orange walls.

Bathtub Vessel Copper Sink »

Recycled copper sinks. Timeless and durable copper is a natural in the bathroom, with its
inherent antibacterial and antifungal properties. And it can be an ecofriendly choice too when
you use a recycled copper sink, like those from family-owned Premier Copper Products, whose
sinks are comprised of 99.9 percent recycled copper. The rich character of the sinks comes
courtesy of hand hammering by artisans and preaging the copper over an open fire to develop its
deep patina.

Eleek's Zazen Sink »

Recycled bronze sinks.
Amp up your bath's
sophistication with
inimitable bronze. Eleek, a
certified B Corporation
whose cast bronze sinks are
made of 90 percent
recycled content,
recommends leaving the bright metal raw and uncoated, adding that " ... a living patina is a
reflection of the life of the object. Use it. Love it. Let it tell its story." You can slow down the
patina process or preserve the patina with the occasional application of wax, or remove it
with a safe abrasive like Bon Ami or a scrubby sponge.

Recycled aluminum
sinks. Need further
incentive to toss that soda
or beer can into the
recycling bin? The end
product of your recycling
can be a sleek, modern

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sinks.

Velvet Cienega Sink »

Recycled glass sinks. A

luminous jewel for your
bathroom, a recycled-glass
sink looks terrific in a
simple design that
showcases the artisan gem.
Alchemy Glass, one of
many recycled-glass-sink
manufacturers, has several
sinks that feature recycled
glass, including its Cosmic Burst, with shards of recycled glass fused into the basin.

Cement-based sinks.
Cast-in-place concrete
sinks, each poured for a
unique installation, provide
ultimate flexibility to
design the perfect sink for
you and your bathroom.
Green your concrete with
recycled aggregates like
glass, porcelain or coal fly
ash (though skip the fly ash
if coal isn't produced in
your region, as the
transportation energy
negates any green cred).

Alternatively, Lithistone's
ceramic cement uses
approximately 20 to 40
percent less energy than
Portland Cement, thereby
reducing the sinks' carbon

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material and organic mineral pigments.

Wood sinks. Your lav can

be an unexpected place for
connecting with nature by
incorporating natural
materials, like wood. Just
make sure that connection
is ecofriendly by seeking
wood that is either salvaged
or certified by the Forest
Stewardship Council (FSC),
which ensures, in part, that
wood products come from
responsibly harvested
forests. And be sure to seal
it with an no- or low-VOC
(nontoxic) sealer.

Salvaged porcelain
sinks. Conventional
porcelain sinks aren't bad
— they're certainly durable,
lasting a hundred years or
more. And porcelain is
largely made of natural
materials applied to either
a cast iron or stainless steel
base.

But we can conserve those

natural resources and keep
old lavs out of the landfill
by seeking a salvaged
porcelain sink; they're
plentiful at architectural
salvage shops. If the
surface is a little grubby or
matte, contact a local

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and decorating

Browse more bathroom sinks photos »

More in Bathrooms »

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Bathroom Tile Right » Easy Tips for an Work Wonders » Dryer Chaos »
Organized Bathroom »

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Comments

kuva says:

Some of these sinks look really hard to clean... Black rubber & toothpaste?

29 hours ago · Like

Epic Artisan Concrete says:

That concrete sink was most definitely not cast in place, however, precast
concrete sinks are also quite green when the concrete artisan knows what they
are doing. Also, when using things that are shaped like bowls, one might want to
consider whether or not there is sufficient slope toward the drain, else he/she
might have water pooling up in the bottom of their vessel.

27 hours ago · Like

astraea says:

A rusted salvaged sink .. seriously?! Is that going to attract anyone to use it to

get clean? How do you clean the sink .. or do you just let it deteriorate until you
spring a leak? How impractical! I also thought that vessel sinks were passe.

15 hours ago · Like · 1

arahija says:

I want to know where to get the rubber sink??? Anyone know

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you tell me the exact brand, finish and color of the mod orange walls? It
compliments the copper-brown-gray metals.

13 hours ago · Like

ontherim says:

who pours the concrete sink? where do I go to get one?

12 hours ago · Like

Kathie Waters says:

The salvaged cast-metal basin LOOKS fantastic, but I also wish to know how
one keeps it clean? Would be ok for an outdoor wash station, like near the
garden, but in my bathroom? No thanks. I'll stick with what I can clean germs off
of!

12 hours ago · Like · 1

departure: architecture planning interiors llc says:

@arahija: Contact Minarc regarding purchasing - they are the designers of the
sink and were very helpful when I was writing the article.

@jpbarlow71: When I clicked on the photo, I saw the same question had been
asked. Someone (though not the original designer) replied: "Valspar's Orange
Maple is a similar color."

11 hours ago · Like

cyvonne says:

love the size of the concrete sink, would be useful in the kitchen, also like the
wooden sink featured in iancoxdesign, check it out.

9 hours ago · Like

Architectural Antiques says:

Architectural Antiques loves salvaged and recycled products! We actually have

similar sinks in our inventory!
www.archantiques.com

9 hours ago · Like

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