A few years back we were at a birthday party for a friend’s younger brother, and one of his friends gave him a turtle made of milk jugs. The boy started to cry, then the girl who gave him the turtle started to cry, and accusatory looks were exchanged between every parent faction and things got a little somber. Several kids later refused to eat any of the turtle-shaped ice cream cake.

We think, in hindsight, that people just weren’t ready for the open gifting of objects made from other objects. Thankfully, we live in more sensible times now, and re-using is finally in style. To prove as much, check out TreeHugger’s listicle of 8 Great Green Gadgets, like the surprisingly effective iPod speakers pictured at right.