GLASS ACT
Bottles and jars that once held food products may have made their way into this striking Vetrazzo® Bistro Green tabletop/counter.

The company manufactures surfaces for countertops, tabletops and vanities that are made of 100-percent recycled glass from such diverse sources as traffic lights, windows, windshields and more. Set in cement, the recycled glass accounts for 85 percent of the product’s makeup.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently honored Vetrazzo for its environmental efforts. A company source has estimated that an average countertop can contain as many as 1,000 recycled bottles. These might otherwise end up in landfills.

Vetrazzi is available through The Great Indoors and other authorized sources. For more information, visit vetrazzo.com, or call (510) 234-5550.



WORDS OF WISDOM
Long favored for the outdoors, sustainable concrete is making a statement indoors as well. The “green” material has gained popularity inside the home as a durable countertop surface. Author Fu-Tung Cheng calls concrete a sensible choice for kitchen and bathroom countertops, and he teaches do-it-yourselfers how to make them in his book Concrete Countertops Made Simple: A Step-by-Step Guide (The Taunton Press).

“What’s fun about concrete countertops is that anyone can make one: from the amateur with the simplest of tools to the expert who has a fully equipped shop,” he explains, noting that a countertop typically takes two weekends to complete.

Cheng breaks down the fabrication process into understandable steps, from making a template for a mold to give the counter shape, to mixing and pouring the concrete, to the curing process. He offers suggestions for embellishing the hardening slab with fossils, tiles, recycled glass and other items. Such tips as embedding steel into the concrete to prevent cracking, and sealing the countertop to avoid staining are given by the author to help maintain the finished product. An instructional DVD also is included.
—Mary Modney