It's awesome to think we can recycle plastic bottles into polyester thread that can be used to make clothes. But when you actually see this process in action, you have to wonder—between the shipping and the factory machinery, what's the carbon balance here? Not to mention the human health cost? We think you'll be surprised to see what goes into the process:

It also makes you realize that if we could do the impossible and get people to pre-separate their recycleables, we could probably save a lot of trouble down the line. For example, if all drinks bottles were separated from their caps, and further separated by color. But that would be a massive design problem requiring multiple containers in each household, and a level of vigilance I just don't think our society is ready to undertake.