Climate change is the defining crisis of our time, and as the days pass, It only seems to be getting worse. The sea levels are rising, ice caps are melting, forests are burning, coral reefs are dying, and our oceans are filled with unnecessary plastic, plaguing our marine life and land ecosystems with destructive materials. While all of this may sound overwhelming, climate change is still a race that we can win, only if we commit to conjuring up a zero-waste lifestyle as much as we possibly can. There are many ways in which we can do our part to make small actionable steps by using, recycling, and re-using our resources for a better tomorrow. One of those resources is glass.
Why Choose Glass?
The history of glass dates to around 3600 BC in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Glass was (and still is) largely associated with longevity, strength, beauty, and hygiene – making it the perfect medium. Today, glass surrounds us in our daily lives. It is affordable, accessible, and easy to use as a tool for creating a better environment. So, what are the benefits of using glass over plastic?
- Glass is 100% Recyclable, Reusable and Natural. It is made from bioavailable materials like sand, soda ash, and limestone, heated to an extremely high temperature before it becomes molded into the desired shape. It can also be recycled endlessly without loss in quality and purity.
- It’s safer to use than plastic. Plastic has all sorts of hazardous chemicals such as heavy metals, flame retardants, phthalates, bisphenols, and fluorinated compounds. All of these materials are directly associated with plastic production. Because glass is 100% natural, it does not leach any harmful substances into food or drinks.
- It has proven itself to be better for the environment. Glass that is produced from other recycled glass reduces air-related pollution by 20% and reduces water pollution by 50%. This energy is saved during the manufacturing process. When used glass is melted down into something else, it uses a much lower temperature than the raw materials.
- Recycling glass reduces the space in landfills. Trying to clear our waste in landfills is a global issue. When glass is recycled it means that there will be no more broken glass and empty bottles lying around in our landfills, reducing their size of them.
With an unlimited shelf-life and the ability to be reused in so many ways, it’s no wonder that switching to glass in small areas of our everyday life seems like an effortless process. Which, it is. While recycling is important, it is also not the only option we have when it comes to making better changes for the environment. There are loads of ways to reuse glass, in our homes, for our gardens, and even for our self-care.
Art, DIY, and Gardening
There is a plethora of creative ways to reuse glass. Many people have found ways to turn them into decorative structures indoors and outdoors. For example, empty glass containers can be used as pots for planting. You can even use them with some string and tie them up to a sturdy structure to have hanging wall pants. You can use glass bottles to make bird feeders, lanterns, candle holders, and even glass bottle wind chimes. It can also be crushed down into little pebbles to make mosaic pieces of art. This is an activity that can be enjoyed by anyone and it’s a great way to reuse glass in fun and creative ways.
Storage and Refillable Products
In our everyday life, we use many different products. There has been an emerging environmentally friendly trend that most businesses are starting to adapt to and that is the idea of refilling and not re-buying. For example, some grocery stores are now using a ‘weigh-and-pay’ modal, meaning that customers can come to the store with empty glass containers, weigh them for the amount they need, or for the amount of space in the container and get them refilled. All sorts of containers are used for this including sauce bottles, glass jars, medicine glass jars, any glass bottles as well as small round glass containers. This isn’t the case for just groceries though, refillable shopping is widely relevant for most beauty and cosmetics brands. You can bring your glass containers and get them refilled with things like creams, sprays or mists, body butter, oils, and serums. This environmentally friendly refill system not only encourages you to waste less, but it makes you think about just how much you actually need as opposed to just buying blindly and creating waste.
Glass can be used for Solar Energy
Buildings have a whopping 40% contribution to global carbon emissions, with no projection of it slowing down any time soon. Over decades we have seen solar, electric and wind-powered solutions have been in use. Now, we have solar windows which are conventional windows that have built-in solar panels that feature photovoltaic glazing which converts sunlight into renewable electricity. Solar glass windows contain solar cells that convert sunlight into usable energy. This new technology promises to fill cities with buildings that actively reduce energy waste while simultaneously generating electricity which reduces building energy costs as a result.
A zero-waste recycling lifestyle is not something that happens overnight. You can’t just expect to throw all your plastic away and change everything you own to glass. You can, however, start making small changes that lead to a big difference. Glass has a long list of reusable options, all you need is one or two to create a better future for our planet.
