Here at Rescued Glass, we truly care about making a difference one bottle at a time. One of the ways that we strive to make a difference in our communities is to work with young and aspiring entrepreneurs to teach them the importance of taking initiative and giving back to society whilst giving them practical business knowledge and experience. Today, we asked some of the students to explain more about what Rescued Glass means to them, why they believe Rescued Glass has value as a business, or to provide insights on the business from their own perspective.
Boom (Napat) S
People do not realize how much waste they are creating by using single use products like
plastic bottles and straws. The amount of waste that us humans create each day is more than you would think. In fact, more than half a billion plastic straws are used every day around the world, and that is just the amount of waste from straws. A large amount of waste is thrown away each day, and this has become a huge problem. This is why I joined Rescued Glass’ service program, it empowered and helped me find my role in solving these problems.
One of the solutions to solve the aforementioned problems is upcycling. Upcycling is taking something that has been used and is considered waste, and repurposing it. People tend to mix up recycling and upcycling. Recycling breaks down the material of the waste so their base materials can be remade into a new product, while upcycling is to reuse the waste to create a material or product that is perceived to be of higher quality.
An easy way to differentiate the two is that to recycle glass bottles, they would have to be crushed, melted, and mouled back into bottles or jars, while upcycling the glass bottles would mean cutting off the top of the bottle and turning it into a plant pot. Realistically, anything could be upcycled, but as plastic and glass are one of the most used products, they are the main materials that are upcycled.
There are many benefits to upcycling. It reduces the amount of waste greatly as it decreases the amount of waste being sent to landfills and incinerators, as well as waste in the oceans. This means that it will prevent the deaths of many marine animals, save energy, and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions. Upcycling allows the waste to be transformed into a new product that is often of higher quality. As upcycling can be done with all types of waste, this gives people the opportunity to use their creativity to produce a product that they wish.
Dean R
I joined Rescued Glass’ mentorship program because I am a strong advocate for the power of upcycling; I love exploring products that are both innovative and sustainable! Rescued glass does just that, it is a service group which positively impacts the environment by upcycling old wine and glass bottles into new and improved products. What is upcycling you ask? Well upcycling is the act of creative reuse, which is the process of turning old by-products, waste materials, and unwanted products into new products of higher quality. We turn unwanted thrown out bottles into new and improved products, which is very environmentally friendly since it reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills and incinerators, in addition to reducing the trash and pollution in the oceans and forests. This results in less carbon dioxide emissions due to the fact that less products are being burnt, further reducing the effects of global warming on our environment. Furthermore, the act of upcycling also prevents the deaths of many marine animals, while saving energy in every part of the production cycle. Rescued glass is an organization aimed to sustainably bring customers quality products while saving the environment at the same time.
Alex
I chose to join Rescued Glass’ mentorship program because not only do they make a difference in society but they sell high quality products to a range of people, whether that person may be new to up cycling or is a person who is passionate about nature conservation. The products that we make are manufactured from glass bottles that had already been used. This way, not only is it aesthetically pleasing to see beer bottles and wine bottles as a plate, it can also contribute to a circular economy. A circular economy is when a product is made, instead of throwing it away and completely ignoring the potential value, the used product is remade into something else that once again holds value. In other words, this economy is sustainable and manageable unlike a linear economy that uses resources temporarily and wasting it.
Not only can this stop the complete consumption of our planets resource, it could also preserve nature as well. As by reducing the need for excessive production, the need for materials would decrease. Therefore reducing the amount of mines mined and oceans polluted.
wasteonline.org.uk suggests 1,000 Kg of wasted glass up cycled into brand new products save 315 Kg of Co2 emission. The US alone wastes 100 million tonnes annually. If we were to completely up cycle all of the waste, that would cut the Co2 emission by 31.5 million tonnes annually.
Together, you can save the environment and enjoy the aesthetically pleasing products.
Consider supporting Rescued Glass and thank you for your time!
Ram
I joined Rescued Glass’ program because they strive, everyday, to transform the product cycle of glass production and consumption from a linear economy to a sustainable circular economy. This is so that the biodiversity of the aquatic/terrestrial ecosystems in Tropical countries such as Thailand is not harmed through this linear production.
The growth of this social enterprise is beneficial for the Thai economy, as preserving the country's biodiversity encourages high-end tourism to Thailand. 27 million metric tons of glass waste is produced per year, that is enough to fill the Empire State Building every 3 days. Only 32% of that glass waste is upcycled/recycled.
Our social enterprise reduces glass waste at a global scale, collecting bottles from countries such as Thailand, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. We take glass bottles and make them into many creative products such as soap dispensers, snack bowls, wine decanters, fairy lights, vases and drinking cups.
