It was during a conversation over a bottle of wine, one which they knew would simply end up in a landfill, that a pair of New Orleans residents started their own non-profit glass recycling service.

In what appears a no-brainer, the pair collect glass bottles and grind them down into super soft sand to use for disaster relief, eco-construction, and even new glass.

Glass Half Full is taking on the problem that hundreds of municipalities in the U.S. have stopped offering glass recycling, their native New Orleans among them. Their efforts saw them recently receive The Most Innovative Program award from the Keep Louisiana Beautiful Conference.

The U.S. is branching away from curbside glass recycling because too often the glass they receive is contaminated, or breaks apart and acts as a contaminant in other waste streams such as metal and paper.

If responsibility recycled, glass is 100% reusable, but despite this only a quarter of glass in the U.S. is recycled.

Enter Glass Half Full, the largest grassroots recycling program in the world, funded mostly by donations. They collect glass either from businesses curbside or from their specified drop-off points, and bring them to the processing facility.

After that the glass is sorted, cleansed of metal and cork objects, pulverized, and sifted into sand of respective colors which they pile into sandbags, heat into new glass objects, or sell out for eco-construction.

Glass Half Full is currently 90% of the way to finishing their fundraiser to scale-up their operations.

"A single piece of glass in your recycling bin in NOLA will cause the entire load to be sent to the landfill, where it will never decompose," write Glass Half Full. "New Orleans wastes millions of tax dollars… importing millions of pounds of sand. We are preventing these unnecessary, wasteful, and expensive practices by providing a sustainable alternative."

But they see their sand as having way more potential than creating more wine bottles.

They hope to help restore Louisiana's shoreline with the recycled glass amid a worldwide sand shortage. Dredging for sand is an extremely laborious process that's harmful to riverine and other ecosystems near where the mining takes place.

"Sand is a crucial tool for rebuilding the barrier islands and sandbars that protect our coast from tropical storms and hurricanes," they write, pointing out that much of the flood prevention systems Louisiana has built over the years prevent sediment from flowing out into the Gulf and other coastal ecosystems.

"Returning sediment to wetlands combats erosion and promotes the return of native foliage and wildlife, which will ultimately strengthen Louisiana's economy and preserve our food supply."

If you live in New Orleans and want to get involved or recycle your glass, all the program information can be found on the Glass Half Full FAQs. 

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