Etsy Spotlight Shop #5: Conversation Glass

This day and age everyone is trying to do their part to protect the earth and this fantastic Etsy shop is doing just that...one bottle at a time!

 

 Conversation Glass is a shop that specializes in taking used bottles and making them into useful and super cool conversation pieces for your home.

 

Check out this amazing shop and help the earth by purchasing some of their unique glassware. Everything in their shop would make fantastic earth-friendly gifts!

 

 

 

www.etsy.com/shop/ConversationGlass

 



I talked to Matt and Gracie of Conversation Glass, here's what they had to say:

What do you love about working with recycled glass?

Matt & Gracie:
Glass has taught us patience. You can't rush glass - it simply won't sand to smoothness any faster than at its own pace. The sanding process is slow and requires great care. And since we aren't a very patient family, we've had to learn to be more so! With that being said, it's simply beautiful. And it feels so good to take something that was discarded and breathe new life into it.  


How many items to do you make in a day?
 
Matt & Gracie:
Our space is limited, so we generally batch our tasks. We just don't have the space for an "assembly line" process that would allow us to go from start to finish smoothly. It can feel like pre-Industrial Revolution in our living room!
Some days we gather and clean bottles, some days we cut them, and other days we sand our glasses. The final step is to ship our goodies to our happy shoppers. So it's tough to estimate how many pieces we can make in a day. In the past we filled a large order of over 100 glasses in a week or so...But we can probably do better than that now...

What makes your shop different than other shops that use recycled glass as a medium?

Matt & Gracie:
I can't speak for other shops, and frankly, I'm thrilled that there are others out there upcycling bottles! As for us, we're an entirely family-run cottage business. We work entirely out of our home, and manage every bit of that business while juggling family life and a full time job. I work from home with Conversation Glass while Gracie works as a veterinary technician.
We're passionate about doing something good for our planet and minimizing the negative impact on our world. We may not make a huge impact, but every bottle we turn into something cool is a bottle kept from a landfill. Our daughter is learning what it means to make something with her own two hands and that a business can and SHOULD have a conscience. I think that makes us unique. That's a pretty awesome legacy to have. 

How did you get your start on etsy.com?

Matt & Gracie:
Etsy is awesome! It allows us the flexibility to be creative and market our glassware and home goods to a wide audience of those looking for something more unique than goods found in a huge box store. A friend of ours who was already selling her jewelry on Etsy suggested we try our hand at the online marketplace. Voila! Conversation Glass was born!
Since that start, we've met amazing buyers from all over the world and made quite a few friends in other sellers, too. 

 

Drop by their shop and check it out!

Save the earth and buy a gift while you're there!