I just finished watching an awesome show on the Discovery Science Channel called “Eco-Tech.” I stumbled across the “Zero Waste” episode yesterday and queued it up to record. The content they covered was amazing…!

• A company called TerraCycle has developed a system where garbage is eaten and processed by worms to make “worm poop” fertilizer and other garden products. One of the coolest things they do is take discarded plastic bottles, wash them, replace the labels and reuse them as product packaging.
• What happens to landfills when they’re full? A variety of things but nothing as cool as what Waste Management is doing… which involves tapping landfills, capturing methane gas from decomposing trash, and then using the gas to produce energy.
• How about a process called plasma gasification where plasma torches that are hotter than the sun(!) zap waste, breaking it down into simple elemental molecules that are then used to produce clean energy. A company called Plasco Energy Group is doing it.

Tonight there’s another episode on at 9:00 about building green, which replays at midnight. Thursday’s episode is about sustainable energy resources and Friday’s episode is about extreme weather. Looks like there was also an episode that I missed on Monday about future fuels.

BTW — according to the Discovery Science Channel website, all episodes will be replayed multiple times through August 26th. You can see a listing here. If you can, watch these shows and let’s discuss in the forums!