   Outside the Box: Green goes gray and more  Tuesday, July 10,
2007  Enviroblog's new weekly column, Outside The Box, features
stories outside the norm and refusing to conform.  This week's
Outside the Box highlights people finding creative uses for
mundane and even gross materials. It might just be the only
place on the web with Viking ships, cow dung, plastic bottles,
and ethanol all in one feature. Yes, that's right, I'm bragging
about it.  Who said recycling had to be boring? Not these Juneau
conservation groups building a twenty-foot Viking boat reusing
old fishing rods, nets, and 5,000 plastic drink bottles. Instead
of conquest and plunder this longship will serve as a constant
(and creative) reminder about the long-term damage plastics can
wreck on the high seas. And why the heck not? These conservation
groups had a brilliant idea if you ask me. In addition to
inspiring recycling, it seems like a fantastically inexpensive
way to build a boat. My grandfather always said the best way to
simulate owning