BBC News-Hotel made entirely from rubbish opens in Madrid http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12245311 Madrid's Beach Garbage Hotel Constructed to Protest World's Dirty Oceans http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/20/madrids-beach-garbage-hot_n_811442.html#s226725 'Garbage Warrior' Turns Trash Into Green-Built Houses http://life.gaiam.com/article/garbage-warrior-turns-trash-green-built-houses International Tourism Trade Fair http://www.ifema.es/ferias/fitur/default_i.html Ocean Conservancy: International Coastal Cleanup http://www.oceanconservancy.org/our-work/marine-debris/international-coastal-cleanup-11.html Some travel books will refer to hotel as "run-down" or "rough around the edges", but would any guide be so bold as to say a particular hostelry is "rubbish"? Those might be fighting words for some, except perhaps for the Beach Garbage Hotel in Madrid. The aptly named hotel is constructed out of garbage picked up from beaches all across Europe, and it drew quite a crowd curious to learn more about this unusual structure. The idea for the Beach Garbage Hotel was created by German artist Ha Schult, who wished to draw attention to the tremendous problems created by the widespread ocean dumping of refuse and other materials. The hotel was temporarily placed in the city center of Madrid to coincide with the International Tourism Trade Fair held this past week. Schult found all of the materials for this five-room hotel on beaches, flea markets, and landfills. The hotel has since been removed from the site, but Schult has plans to construct other eye-catching properties in similar high-profile locales. The first link will take visitors to a piece from the Irish Times about this unusual hotel. The second link leads to a nice video from the BBC which takes the curious around the house, and also includes a few words from Ha Schult. Moving on, the third link leads to some nice photos of the property, courtesy of the Huffington Post. The fourth link leads to a story from the Gaiam website about Michael Reynolds, the "garbage warrior" who uses discarded items to construct houses. The fifth link leads to the homepage of the International Tourism Trade Fair. Finally, the last link will take users to the Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup page, complete with information their initiative to clean up marine debris.