a growing food movement
Lammergeier Glass Recycling: turning trash to treasure
by LeeAnna Tatum
“Glass, an inorganic solid material that is usually
Chances are quite high that glass is not allowed
transparent or translucent as well as hard, brittle,
in your recycling centers and even if it’s ok to put
and impervious to the natural elements. Glass has
it in your bin, it could still end up in a landfill. This,
been made into practical and decorative objects
despite the fact that glass is literally the most
since ancient times, and it is still very important in
recyclable material out there.
applications as disparate as building construction, housewares, and telecommunications. It is made
This is a problem that entrepreneur and glass-
by cooling molten ingredients such as silica sand
enthusiast Malena Gauss is working to address in
with sufficient rapidity to prevent the formation of
Savannah and surrounding areas.
visible crystals.” As defined by the Encyclopedia Britannica
Gauss came face to face with this problem
Glass is everywhere in our homes: we drink from
disrupted by the COVID-19 shutdowns in March of
it, watch birds and sunsets through it, eat salsa
2020. Left with mountains of bottles that she had
from it, preserve garden harvests in it and protect
collected for upcycling projects and no access to
precious photos behind it. In the food industry, it is
the public through her showroom, Gauss turned to
used extensively for packaging, storing and serving
the internet to find a solution for disposing of the
foods, beverages and condiments.
accumulated glass.
But what happens to glass when it is no longer of
“I started making calls and no one in a 300 mile
use to us? Wine bottles, beer bottles, soda bottles,
radius would take the glass,” Gauss explained. “And
baby food jars, pickle jars, perfume bottles, skin
I thought, ok well there’s a problem - I can’t find
cream jars … the list is almost endless.
anywhere to take the glass. And I did research and
when her glass upcycling business was abruptly
more research. The deeper I dug, the more garbage As a society, we’ve come to view plastic as the
I found - literally.”
number one enemy of the environment and we might be convinced that by purchasing items
Gauss also knew from experience that she was
packaged in glass, we’re doing the environment a
not alone in seeking direction for recycling glass.
favor. And in many ways that’s true … with a caveat.
During the few months that her glass upcycling and lighting business had been going, she was
When was the last time you tried to recycle all that glass?
contacted with some frequency by businesses and (con tinued on page 2 2)
ISSUE ~ 5 ~ 2020
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