EcoLiving Ideas

By Jennifer Barckley on Jan 25, 2012

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Soccer-style kicks. Little hops on sidewalks. The resounding sound of “Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.” For many of us, this is our experience with the broken fragments of glass that oft line our curbs, our parks and our natural homes. And for most of us, these pieces of green, brown, blue, amber and more, are castaways—swept up by a street cleaner or slowly buried under a pile of leaves.

Connecting the Past to the Future

Yet, it’s the little things that can go far—in sharing beauty, in being of use, in telling a story of something larger than itself. For Laura Bergman, a reclaim artist and Founder of Bottled Up Designs, these abandoned remnants are gems for the rescue. Earrings. Necklaces. Artifacts of beauty. As much of a historian as she is a designer, Bergman crafts her eco friendly handmade jewelry with a deep love and appreciation for the story behind it. “It’s a truly unique way to preserve the past while helping the future,” says Bergman.

Cobalt Petite Necklace, crafted from early- to mid- 1900s cobalt glass Noxzema, Milk of Magnesia and Vick’s Vap-o-Rub bottles.

The story of Bottled Up Designs began near Bergman’s home in the rural Amish Country of Pennsylvania. A lifelong collector of antique glass and bottles, she spent hours digging through old dumps filled with tossed-aside glass. “One day while digging, I saw a mother doe and her fawn,” says Bergman. “As I approached, I was horrified to see the baby fawn had been lying on the jagged remains of broken antique bottles. It was then that I decided to do something better with this old glass.”

The Ups and Downs of Glass Recycling

She has since spent countless hours foraging natural, wooded habitats and farmlands for her broken jewels, which she transforms into a new kind of jewel—wearable history, art and love in one. Rather than downcycling her glass—the process of recycling materials into products of lesser quality, Bergman upcycles it, giving the broken pieces once tossed away new life with even greater value. Typically, only larger pieces of glass are wanted when recycling old glass into new containers or bottles. So, the little, remnants—if rescued and collected for recycling—are broken down even further, nearly returning to its original, sandy-silica form and added into other substances like concrete or ceramic.

Beyond just saving glass from harming the greater environment, designs like Bergman’s help us consider waste in a new, meaningful way.

Wearing Waste, In Style

Whether a sustainable seeker from earrings to undies or simply a fashion forward maven, the true beauty of Bergman’s gems lies in their style and versatility. Pair the Cobalt Petite Necklace (pictured above) with a simple black sheath (like the Bloom Drape Front Dress) for an elegant evening out. Or if color is what you do best, layer it with other long and short necklace chains and wear it over a bright, solid shade like red or yellow (like the Scoopneck Shell ecoKashmere Sweater). For the artistic and accessory-loving fashionista, beat the winter blues by combining the necklace with the Blue Willow Rectangular Earrings (pictured below).

With waste at your accessorizing ready, you’ll soon see it as what it is: polished beauty. Just the kind that makes a look.

Blue Willow Rectangular Earrings, made from dishware popular throughout the 1900s. Its detailed pattern tells an ancient Chinese love story.

Love & cheers, Organic Girly

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