Today’s news chum brings three stories of reuse (and I promise you that the bits I use to write this story are reused as well). To be truthful, the first I saw in the transportation news over lunch, and it triggered my memories of the other two:
- From the “So Is It A Drive-In?” Department: The Good.IS Blog has an article on Diamond Lil: A new concept in dining. In a move that will certainly please the bus and transit aficionados, Diamond Lil is a mobile restaurant built out of a former 1957 GMC Greyhouse bus, configured to run on her own used cooking oil (extra pan drippings will help top off the tank). The interior is built from recycled materials, and (of course) the bus is salvage.
- From the “Does George Clooney Live Here?” Department: The LA Times has an article on the Jumbo Hostel in Stockholm, Sweden, which is made from a retired Boeing 747 jet. The airplane, which belonged to Transjet until the carrier went under in 2002, was built for Singapore Airlines and later flew under legacy carrier Pan Am. Visitors can spend the night in one of 25 rooms that accommodate a total of 72 beds. The cheapest room, a dorm bed, goes for about $38 a night. The cockpit suite features two beds, a flat-screen TV, free Wi-Fi and a private bathroom with shower, and costs $358, including breakfast.
- From the “A Real Secondhand Store” Department: NPR/WBUR (although I swear I saw it somewhere else) brings a story of reuse of dead big-box stores: it seems they are now popular with thrift stores. In this economy, thrift stores are thriving (both on the supply and demand ends), and they need large spaces with low rent. Guess what? A dead Circuit City can provide just the answer: a secondhand superstore.
