Raise Your Glass To The Sea ... The New Vetrazzo Coastal Edition

Inspired by Coastal Design, Created From Nature (and last night's party). 
So What is so unique about the new Vetrazzo Coastal Edition? South Carolina Oyster Shells and Georgia White Marble, both local, both recycled.

Amethystos
Celebrate the land and sea with a mix that reimagines an azure coast with architectural “float-glass”, iridescent oyster shells and Georgia white marble. We dare you to dip your toes in it.
Glass source story:
Ingredients: oyster shells, architectural “float-glass”, crushed marble

Amethystos

Umbo White
Our message in a bottle to recycle comes to life in this crisp white mix. Oyster shells shine alongside curbside recycling and crushed marble to create a carefree look of coastal living.
Glass source story:
Ingredients: oyster shells, soda and beer bottles, condiment jars, baby food and jam jars, crushed marble.

Umbo White

Bretagne Blue
Celebrate the land and sea with a mix that reimagines an azure coast with architectural “float-glass”, iridescent oyster shells and Georgia white marble. We dare you to dip your toes in it.
Glass source story:
Ingredients: oyster shells, architectural “float-glass”, crushed marble

Bretagne Blue

CREATE YOUR COASTAL LIVING TODAY

Vetrazzo's Newest Glass Source

For Senior Designer Melissa Hawkins, some glass recycling programs just don't go far enough. An avid thrift store shopper, Melissa noticed a surplus of glassware that, if unsold, would end up in the landfill. "Due to concerns of contamination, municipal recycling programs only want bottle and jar-container glass. Container manufacturers buy the cullet, (crushed glass) from the recycling programs to remelt and mold into new containers. Contaminates, especially porcelain, can cause expensive equipment damage," explained Hawkins.

Inspired to recycle the multitude of “contaminates” or non-container glass, such as Pyrex cookware, dishware, and vases, Hawkins contacted several of the larger thrift store organizations. Phillip Arca, Executive Director at the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Oakland California, was willing to set-up a test program at their sorting facility.

Now thanks to The St. Vincent de Paul Society and Vetrazzo, chipped or otherwise unsellable glassware is collected in blue barrels for bi-monthly pick up. The quantity is relatively small but it is another example of the community, and creativity, supported by Vetrazzo in effort to keep recyclable glass out of the landfills.

On a side note, I have the pleasure of carpooling 4 days a week with Melissa, also known as Vetrazzo's Sustainability Officer or Waste Cop, if you will. At least one ride a week Mel will start to brainstorm a new way she thinks Vetrazzo can step up its game and cut down its waste. I'm not kidding when I say due to her passion we have barely avoided a number of fender benders when she gets on a roll... or sees a tire tread on the side of the freeway she could turn into art.

Trafficology Pendant Lamps by Melissa Hawkins

Recently with the help of Vetrazzo VP of Manufacturing, John Sabol, Melissa was able to work out a partnership to recycle a previously un-recyclable by-product of the Vetrazzo manufacturing process. Their efforts will save Vetrazzo money and keep our manufacturing waste out of the landfill. More on this and the rest of the Vetrazzo path to sustainability through responsible manufacturing in an upcoming blog...

Vetrazzo Company Culture

As I sit here looking at a couple of empty 32oz Tecate bottles I brought back from a trip to Mexico last year to split with our CFO (who likes the Tecate Light, but graciously accepted the original) I think about the company culture that makes Vetrazzo what it is. See, I go down to Tecate, Mexico once a year with an NGO called Club Dust to build houses in a shanty town called El Nino. I was only 3 months into my job here at Vetrazzo when the management team happily gave me paid time off to go on this trip. I have just now returned from a very successful trip this year.

Many large corporations will have some sort of paid philanthropy policy…what makes Vetrazzo different is that we have 2 people in our entire Marketing Department, so encouraging half the team to take off for a week is a unique choice. Where I went and what I did are only small details that bring me to my main point: Vetrazzo is a different kind of company.

This blog will mainly be about the company culture of Vetrazzo. I am trying to have a conversation about a different way of doing business and, though there are some great examples of this here at Vetrazzo, the conversation will not always be about Vetrazzo.

I want to talk about socially responsible business practices such as providing healthcare to all workers or bringing manufacturing back to the USA. I love to write and everyday I see something different and interesting that happens at Vetrazzo or I read about a sustainability trailblazing company like Interface. It’s not hard to see new ways that we push ourselves towards sustainability or find true life events that validate our belief that there is a story in every surface™ we create.

The stories told by the unique types of glass you will find in a Vetrazzo surface are not the only stories about Vetrazzo. It is the stories like mine or our Office Assistant’s goat that eats our lunch leftovers, that truly determine Vetrazzo’s story. More on Mama Goat in the next post...

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