Dumpster Swimming Pools, Park Avenue, New York City, United States

Repurposed garbage dumpsters provide a cool green way to escape the heat. Urban kids now have a green alternative to cooling off under the gush of a street fire hydrant. A firm called Macro Sea is refashioning garbage dumpsters into swimming pools. The idea, launched last summer in Brooklyn, has popped up in several locations in New York City this summer and is expected to grow in cities around the country.
"I think it would be so great if different municipalities that can't afford to build a whole park could set up these pop-up pools," says David Belt, who designed the pools and is executive director of Macro Sea. The dumpster pools have a surrounding deck and their own water filtration system. Many urban areas lack the funds to create permanent pool facilities and Belt hopes this idea proves to be a cost effective, environmentally-sound alternative.