Green Living
Leading a green lifestyle often focuses on removing used items from your home in an earth-friendly fashion. Some people, however, are choosing to bring recycled glass products into their home, in a way that shows off personal style and an environmental conscious attitude.
Recycled glass is an option for kitchen countertops, backsplashes, fireplace surrounds, tabletops, vanities, walls and other spots in new or existing homes.
“We have this waste and we might as well use it, and we can make something beautiful,” said Naomi Mann, who owns interior design firm Mann-Made. “Depending on what company you go with, you can buy something pre-done that’s one of 20 colors. Or you can do something unique.”
Unlike some other green products, recycled glass shows off environmentally friendly choices in the home.
“With recycled glass surfaces, you can look at them; they're telling a story about recycling,” said Mary Warner, brand manager for Vetrazzo, a manufacturer of recycled glass surfaces in the North Georgia town of Tate. “Just doing something small like putting a bottle in your curbside … really makes a difference.”
Here are five things to know about this re-used alternative for the home:
1. Show your taste
Mann recently incorporated pieces of beer and wine bottles, mother of pearl and river rock in a concrete countertop by Atlanta-based Dex Industries. The countertops, which were installed in her dad’s kitchen, reflected his interest in wine and nature. “You can kind of customize it to your own colors and liking, which is really nice,” Mann said. Recycled glass also is a versatile option, which can be funky and modern or more austere, depending on the mix you choose, Warner said. Countertops are a practical and straightforward use of recycled glass, but Vetrazzo is seeing fabricators turn its recycled glass surfaces into a backsplash in a kitchen or bathroom, in pools, or on the walls.
2. See the light
Countertops aren’t the only place for recycled glass. “People are even coming up with pendant lights out of wine bottles and clustering them together,” Mann said. She’s also seen chandeliers made out of wine or other unique glass bottles.
3. Play with color
Express your personality or get a little edgy with the color scheme. Popular hues in Vetrazzo’s line of 22 colors (starting at $100 per square foot) are Chivalry Blue (from recycled bottles) and Ruby Red (made out of glass goblets with defects that were not going to be sold by the manufacturer).
When using color, Mann suggests that homeowners think long-term, because overwhelming a room with a certain color could impact the future sale of a home. If you have a favorite color, like red, using that hue in recycled glass allows you to enjoy the color without it taking over the home.
Or to keep the color in check and save money, you could start off with an island or the backsplash, which use less material.
4. Think outside the bottle
Even if you can’t invest in new countertops or other major changes, Mann suggests washing out old wine or liquor bottles and refilling them with everyday items like dishwasher soap, olive oil or mouthwash.
5. Give it some heat
Recycled glass can handle the heat, which means fireplaces and fire pits can incorporate this look. Vetrazzo, for example, can maintain temperatures of up to 700 degrees Fahrenheit. With the popularity of fire pits, recycled glass also could be used on an outside table that features a fire pit in the middle, Warner said.
