Does the thought of giant garbage clumps in our oceans stress you out? “Garbage gyres” are made up of discarded plastics that are carried by currents and accumulate into huge patches (the one in the Pacific Ocean is estimated to be larger than the state of Texas–you can read more about gyres here.)

A Swedish company called Electrolux has found a way to put these masses of plastic bits to use. Electrolux is producing vacuum cleaners made with plastic pieces collected from garbage gyres around the world. In fact, they produce five models, which each are made with plastic materials found in the garbage gyres of a different ocean. From an article on the Record Searchlight’s website:

“The North Sea vacuum’s plastic — collected off the Swedish west coast — is a mixture of red, yellow, blue and white. The Indian Ocean model is made exclusively from the clear plastic water bottles that washed up on Thailand’s coast, not surprising, says Nord, given the region’s hot climate and large tourist industry.

The Mediterranean Sea model resembles crumpled pieces of world globes, while the Pacific Ocean’s model is a more muted mixture with smaller plastic chunks. The Baltic Sea edition contains larger round pieces. Their collection was unique, said Nord. Electrolux invited island vacationers in that region to gather plastic for the collection.”

The vacuum cleaners aren’t going to be sold, but are instead meant to get attention for a very real and very large problem: we’re consuming and discarding plastics at an alarming rate, and need to start finding innovative ways of both decreasing our waste and putting it to use. What other ways have you seen garbage repurposed into something useful?