cds-flickr-vanessa-lynn

Vanessa Lynn

Look under your bed. Among the dust bunnies, behind the sleeping bag, next the embarrassing photos from high school, there’s probably a pile of CDs. Some are worn out from use; some are freebies from AOL; some are blank CDs that you planned to burn the best of mixes on.

Let’s be real: You’re not burning any mixes, sport. You’re never going to use these CDs again.

Reader support helps sustain our work. Donate today to keep our climate news free. All donations DOUBLED!

But Din Ping Tsai, a physicist in Taiwan, could. His lab, reports FastCoExist, has developed a technique for purifying water — destroying 95 percent of contaminants — using nano rods, UV lights, and CDs. Watch it in action:

Grist thanks its sponsors. Become one.

Why CDs? “They spin fast, and are durable and commonly available,” says FastCoExist. And nobody, nobody wants them anymore.