From Trash to Treasure, Thousands of Bottles Saved from Landfill
By: Kristin Mazur
Updated: August 5, 2009
A few times a week Doug Hall heads to Fort Wayne bars like Wrigley Field Sports Bar and Bill’s Midtown. He collects boxes of bottles, puts them in his van, and off he goes back to his house.
Imagine taking an old, used glass bottle and transforming it into a work of art.
“In the year 2008, we saved over just over 2-thousand bottles from the landfill by recycling this through different restaurants and bars” says “Go Green Glass Gifts” owner Cindra Bastress.
Bastress says people will ask all the time ‘wow, how did you get those smashed? Did you run over them with a car?’
Wine bottles and beer bottles are transformed into things like night-lights, serving trays, and reed diffusers.
“It's a very clean, very safe way to burn your incense” says Bastress, talking about the new transformed reed diffusers.
The process is called bottle slumping. Bottles are placed on a mold, then into a kiln, and after thirteen hours of cooling, they are ready to be decorated.
Bastrees says she and Hall never intended to become a green company.
“It wasn't something we sat down and tried to do. It just came naturally” says Bastress.
So far this year they've sold 500 bottles and have another thousand in storage ready to be transformed.
To find out more information on the ‘green’ company, contact Cindra Bastress at (260) 423-6717 or by email at ckb1015@verizon.net.
“Go Green Glass Gifts” will be appearing at upcoming local art shows.
Here is a list of upcoming shows "Go Green Glass Gifts" will be appearing at:
August 7 & 8- Square Fair, Downtown Lima, OH (9am-11pm)
September 6- Downtown Auburn (9am-4pm)
Sept. 10, 11 &12- Grabill Fair, (10am-9pm Thurs/ 10am-10pm Friday/ 10am-9pm Saturday)
November 7- Holly Days, Deer Ridge Elementary (9am-3pm)
