A friend of ours is in the midsts of remodeling her kitchen. Now faced with the daunting task of picking out new cabinets, appliances, countertops -- everything -- she has been asking anyone and everyone for advice. One thing she knew, however, was that she wanted her new kitchen to be as green as possible.
Recycled Glass Counters
More and more people are considering, and purchasing, recycled glass counters.
With increasing options available, she researched and finally settled on Vetrazzo, a Berkeley-based company that has been working on being green for over 10 years.
Old beer and wine bottles, windshields, stained glass, even traffic lights find new life as they are used in creating Vetrazzo countertops -- 100% of all the glass used in Vetrazzo countertops is recycled and each countertop is 85% glass and 15% cement. Our friend's final choice? The Millefiori color scheme which is a blend of orange, blue and green hued glasses.
While we think using sustainable products and resources in new building is a must whenever possible, we still can't help but think that this:
looks an awful lot like this:
Have any of you installed recycled glass counters in your home?
Originally posted by Alex on AT:Chicago.
Comments (4)
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That particular counter is a little colorful for my tastes, but I generally like the look of the recycled-glass countertops. The unfortunate part is the price. I've looked at them locally (in Louisville, KY) and the lowest price for a recycled glass counter was higher than all but the most high-end granite counters. I know the look and justification of each is different, but the price really puts it out of reach for most people. Hopefully it will come down as more people install these.
view JohnnySlimane's profile
I think the counter top and most all recycled glass counter tops I've seen are beautiful (and don't look like nougat), but very spendy. I also like the look of polished cement (recycled). And in our area you can even get counter top slabs that used to be the runway at the old Stapleton Airport!
view Green Me's profile
SO. DAMN. EXPENSIVE.
I would have loved to put this in my recent remodel, but it the prices are just ridiculous. We looked at Vetrazzo and couldn't even look twice because of the price.
view kersten's profile
No but for many of my interior design projects (school) I have specified recycled glass countertops, table tops (restaurant), and flooring (clinic). I love this stuff, it is expensive, my suggestion is too look at the proporties of this material....if you want to roll out cookies or cut meat on it without using a board (some people do w/ granite) than I would look to make sure the brand in non porous. of if you want REALLY low maintance make sure that is doesn't require a lot.
Also, a lot of my Interior Design Professors have corian (spelling?) in their kitchens and bathrooms, so that might be a more resonable option...thought I'm not too familiar with it's green proporties.
Another material I have used once and found interesting is Richlite. A paper based material that is commerical KITCHEN grade quality stuff....they make cutting boards too. I don't know about the price...but they are Eco-friendly. go to www.Richlite.com for that.
view nickel525's profile