Green of the Week: 3rd Edition

         We're back this week with our 3rd edition of U-M Recycling's Green of the Week blog installment to bring you interesting and innovative news from the recycling world.  Some very cool news caught our eye this week, about REUSE.
         Just outside of Portland Oregon, the Campbell family is renovating their home.  Their home has been around the world, and its retirement, the old Boeing 727 has become a residence.  Yes, that's correct, the Boeing 727 aircraft was flown for 32 years before its final landing in 1999, when Bruce Campbell bought it with the intention of remodeling it as a home.  

         The Campbells own about 10 acres of land, where their unique home has permanently landed - and Bruce says he paid about $100,000 for the retired craft (with an additional $12,500 moving fee from the airport to his acreage).  The remodeling options are not as limited as one would think - there's a working bathroom, a "modest" kitchen in the works, and decks with handrails on the wings.
         The Campbell family are not the only ones interested in turning old flying machines into homes, which is a refreshing thought considering the amount of materials used to make these aircraft.  Architect David Hertz, who was interested in finding old materials in building an airplane inspired home for a client, said "we began to realize that there are hundreds of airplanes that have been retired to sit in the deserts of California".  (Here's a link to what these "airplane graveyards" look like - http://www.greenwala.com/channels/green-business/blog/986-On-A-Wing-And-A-Prayer-Where-Airplanes-Go-When-They-Die)

           Thus, the reuse of airplanes, which may normally seem like a colossal task, is actually quite plausible, as seen with the Campbell family.  If you are like Bruce Campbell, and consider yourself "a nerd...who adores aeronautics and abhors the waste of scrapped planes, then maybe a recycled airplane home is in the future for you.  It's unconventional, and maybe even a bit quirky, but don't count out trying new things with reuse like the Campbell family.

You can read the entire article at MSNBC:
http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/16/12605486-lifelong-layover-old-jets-being-recycled-as-homes?lite

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