I was watching "Living with Ed" the other night on HGTV. It is a very funny show and it is quite informative, since Ed takes environmentalism about as far as I've seen anyone take it. The episode on Sunday showed his wife wanting to remodel their kitchen, with new countertops. Instead of using a something like Corian or laminate or something more natural, like stone, they opted for a new product integrating glass mosaics into the countertop. These countertops were so beautiful and they were made with recycled glass bottles. The person selling them the countertop told them that for their kitchen, 1,000 glass bottles would be used for the countertop. The countertops came in an array of color combinations.

If we are thinking about renewable energy, then this show provides a wealth of ideas of how to make your home less harmful to the environment and less energy intensive. The glass countertops are a great example of a beautiful product that does not involves stone quarrying or the use of tons of chemicals for a man-made product. If there is more demand for recycled products for housewares and home remodeling needs, there will be less energy spent on mining for minerals or stone or making items from scratch. I only wish I knew about these countertops before we built our home, since I would love to have them.