Decorative Recycled Beverage Can Jewelry

My sister and her friends grew up lusting after impossibly cute Hello Kitty paper and pen sets, stickers, lip balm and assorted pastel trinkets, so I have a good feeling that even though she's got a family of her own now and real world responsibilities to contend with, she still has a special place in her heart for cartoon cats (See what I mean? That's her phone above!)

Onto the point of this post. I did a double-take when I spotted Funky Junq's handmade and quite extensive line of Hello Kitty and other decorative shaped adornments because everything is created out of recycled aluminum beverage cans.

You might be surprised to learn that in 2008, 54.2% of the aluminum cans produced in the U.S. were recycled -- that doesn't seem like a very cheerful eco-statistic, does it?

That's why I'm happy that Etsy artists like Funky Junq are taking it upon themselves to clean up after our messy, careless selves by harvesting the material used in their line from public garbage cans. Way to go -- they rock!

Even more impressive (at least to me) is the fact that they aren't charging an arm and a leg for their clever creations -- everything in their collection is so reasonably priced (between $4.00 and $9.00), you just have to see it to believe it.

It's funny, though, how something so common and readily available can end up being reincarnated into so many fun and funky accessories. 

These pieces make me smile and feel pretty good about the small but positive contribution that companies like Funky Junq are making to the world -- so everyone, let's support their cool brand of recycled trinkets ;)