A satisfying crush is key to why the Ecopod works. It's well designed (by BMW's Designworks), well made (of stainless steel) and looks nice (in white or black), but we are convinced that it is just kind of fun to use the thing, hence making recycling more attractive.
The Ecopod has a manually operated internal mechanism that crushes packaging down to a manageable size for processing, storing and/or transporting to recycling centers.
Pop a water bottle in the top and depress the foot lever. Around 40-50 items can be stored in the removable lower "pod" before it needs emptying. Additional storage area under the top lid is for other recyclables such glass bottles and newspapers. A third section is for storing plastic grocery bags.
Available now from Williams-Sonoma ($328.), all the details (including the news about it's iF Product Design Award win) can be found at www.ecopod.org...
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so........being an idiot today.........you still separate everything when you fish it out of the bottom bin? it's just for crushing them?
elizabeth,
you are right, the mechanism is just for crushing the cans and bottles. if you sort those out for recycling then you would have to do it afterwards.
It's great looking and if it gets more people to recycle, then I'm all for it, but excuse me if I think that 300+ dollars is an awful lot to spend for a crusher. I think I'd rather go buy a great pair of boots for stomping my recyclables and a cheap plastic bin for that money! But that's me...
we always used this thing that you nail into the wall that has this huge handle and you put a can in it and pull the handle and it crushes it. can work for bottles, too. i'll ask my mom where she got hers - she gave the old one to me so i don't know where mine came from. but it sure as heck wasn't 300 dollars and i got an arm work-out. ;-)and i don't have to sift through all the recycling so things are properly recycled.
here's one:
http://www.amazon.com/Wall-Mount-Steel-Can-Crusher/dp/B0000ZKWAI
and another:
http://www.1ofakindstuff.com/Can-Crusher.html
the second is the one we had and it was easier to use because you pushed the lever instead of pulling it down.