The world of green countertops just keeps expanding. We like bamboo, concrete, and Vetrazzo, but what if you want something that looks a little more traditional? What if you want something that looks a lot like granite?
Maybe the above countertop would be for you. It's not granite though; it's BottleStone, and it has a pretty high percentage of post-consumer recycled content.
BottleStone, as its name indicates, is made of 80% post-consumer recycled glass bottles that are sourced from San Francisco Bay Area recycling programs.
It's also heat, scratch and stain resistant.
And, this is sort of neat: If you'd like to turn your own bottles into countertop material, Bottlestone will do it for you. (Six wine bottles = 1 square-foot of BottleStone.)
via Ecofriend
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But how much does it cost? I was to be financially responsible as well as environmentally responsible.
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That's super cool. I really love the aspect that you can supply your own bottles; imagine being able to point out to visitors that you drank 100 bottles of wine to supply the glass for the countertop! On second thought, maybe that's just an excuse for alcoholism...
Cost is definitely an issue. We are looking at a new kitchen at the moment and the cost of some countertops is just excessive, particularly the granite style ones. You can get the IKEA Numerar oak benchtops quite cheap, but I don't think they are very eco friendly - there's a fair bit of glue used.
The amount of energy required according to the website is 9800 btu per square foot, which I make to be about 3 kWh, i.e. the equivalent of running a 100W lightbulb for 30 hours. They say this is low (no idea how it compares to other types). If you wanted say 50 square feet of benchtop (a moderate kitchen?), that would be like running our 100W light bulb for 1500 hours (2 months, maybe $30 of electricity). But then we're all using CFLs now anyway aren't we?
I love the fact that it can be recycled again through the same process, and the long lifespan.
The idea of using old fluorescent bulbs for material, as stated on their website, worries me a bit (mercury anyone?)...
Now if only it were available in Australia.
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