BLOG IN A BOTTLE

Petr Spatina spent his early life playing the accordion and the piano, before discovering a love for the glass harp. In 2010 he amazed viewers of an Austrian talent show with his self-developed 33-glass harp on which he plays music ranging from classical to pop.

Car-maker ŠKODA saw Spatina on the talent show and asked him to perform a piece of music for the ad that would introduce the new ŠKODA Superb. Watch and be amazed as Spatina plays the 597 crystal glasses that make up his Superb-shaped glass harp!

Beatson Clark, a UK-based producer of glass packaging solutions, has launched a new website which showcases the health and environmental benefits of glass. The site is a fantastic resource for anyone who wants to know more about how glass is produced and its environmental impact.

For Beatson Clark’s customers, the site showcases the glass bottle and jar solutions available. The company also offers a design service for clients who require glass packaging that will stand-out from the competition.

“Consumer demand for products packaged in glass is growing,” explains Charlotte Taylor, Marketing Manager for Beatson Clark. “With glass being 100% infinitely recyclable and totally inert, it is a healthy and sustainable product that helps to minimise the effect of packaging on the environment. We wanted our new website to illustrate these advantages so consumers and brand owners are more aware of just how remarkable glass is as a packaging form.”

Whisky is a product that has strong associations with Scotland, glass and good living. Taking years to mature, the delicate honey-coloured elixir is normally packaged in a beautiful glass bottle and enjoyed from a cut-crystal glass. Right?

Not according to Panama-based company Scottish Spirits which believes that selling whisky in cans will help them tap into the outdoor beverage market. A very drunk outdoor market it seems as the company’s 350 ml (12 oz) cans of whisky contain the equivalent of eight standard drinks.

Unlike whisky bottles, the cans cannot be resealed, requiring the contents to be consumed in one sitting or shared with friends.  Many industry observers believe the move promotes a culture of binge drinking and question the quality of the scotch.

The Scottish Whisky Association is taking action to ban the cans for breaking labelling rules. Let’s hope they succeed for the sake of taste alone! Because let’s be honest: what can top a beautiful glass bottle of Scottish whisky that preserves all the flavours in its purest form? And then we haven’t discussed the added sense of class and style yet

Canadian skin-care company Cocoon Apothecary makes “… skin and body care products that are as good for your skin as they are for the Earth”. The company’s delicate products are packaged in amber glass bottles to protect them from light and contamination. Glass was chosen as it keeps the products fresh and safe, and it is easy to recycle or reuse.

With customers across North America, Cocoon needed packaging that would protect the bottles during transit. However, founder Jessica Burman was conscious that the packaging should have as light an impact on the Earth as her products. The result is a paper tube that is made from 95% post-consumer paper.

The tubes have a luxurious linen feel, but they are 100% biodegradable, making them ideal for recycling or composting. As they mainly contain recycled paper, the tubes do not contribute to deforestation. Vegetable inks are used to print the labels, ensuring that no toxic substances are leached as the tube degrades. The ethical thinking behind the tubes really stands out and makes them true Friends of Glass!

It’s almost Christmas time and here at the Friends of Glass we’re starting to think about what we will serve the family for our special dinner. One thing that is definitely off the menu is the chemical compound Bisphenol-A (BPA) which is found in many non-glass packaging materials.

It’s easy to avoid BPA – just use fresh ingredients wherever possible. And for those out of season treats, we will be using products that are packaged in glass jars and bottles. Sweet corn or garden peas take seconds to warm out of the jar and are almost as fresh and healthy as the day they were picked.

Too yummy to give

You can also try making your own accompaniments to the Christmas feast. Pack Nigella Lawson’s beetroot and ginger chutney into a Kilner jar and you have a delicious accompaniment to your Christmas roast, or a delightfully colourful gift for your food-loving friends.

While on the topic of Nigella, you should also try her delightful gingerbread stuffing. Much better than canned alternatives, it makes any Christmas bird sing! The bird will also need gravy, so why not try the US Breast Cancer Fund’s simple but yummy recipe? Vegetarians should substitute the meat stock with a suitable alternative and serve it with Simon Rimmer’s veggie Wellington.

And what do you think about a cream of mushroom soup, pumpkin pie or green bean casserole? And let’s not forget some homemade cranberry sauce. SafeMama shares her cooking tips & tricks on her blog.

There are loads of other yummy recipes on the Friends of Glass site and they are all BPA free! Why not add your suggestions?

Glass also adds class to the table!

Don’t forget the decorations – delicious healthy celebrations deserve an appropriate ‘glassy’ setting. Put out your best glassware and fill empty glass jars with a little sand and a candle to make a safe and cosy table decoration. Check the décor tips on Friends of Glass for even more inspiration. You can also add pictures of your festive tables to show us how glass adds class to your Christmas.

Looking forward to see your ideas

Glass is Life™ is a global marketing campaign which was started in 2011 by the world’s leading glass packaging producer: Owens-Illinois, Inc. (O-I). Like the Friends of Glass, Glass is Life™ focuses the conversation on glass packaging and reminds people that glass is the purest, most natural and widely-preferred packaging container.

The Glass is Life™ website features some great video testimonials from ‘Glass Advocates’ including brand owners, CEOs, chefs, mums, environmentalists and designers. In their own way, each Advocate outlines the taste, health and sustainability benefits of glass. You can also join the Glass is Life™ conversation from the website and even download your own piece of virtual glass art. You can also get involved through the Glass is Life™ Facebook page.

The campaign was recently rewarded with an award for Best Integrated Campaign by BtoB Magazine. We from Friends of Glass were thrilled to hear about this great news and wish our colleagues from Glass is Life™ all the best with their upcoming campaigns and actions.

Just like Glass is Life™, we believe the future of packaging lies in the use of glass. Not only in terms of sustainability and recyclability, but also when we talk about food preservation and our health.

We see it as our mission not only to inform people about the dangers of certain packaging materials, but also to offer them a clear solution, namely glass.

Therefore we believe in a more practical approach. On our channels you not only find  great recipes and decor tips you can use on a daily basis, we also provide useful recycling and health tips and even a page where you can request a bottle bank to be installed in your area. There are also games where you can make music (from our German Friends) or pass a bottle to a friend.

In short, glass has so much to offer whether we’re talking about design, art, health, recyclability or sustainability. We, together with Glass is Life™, already believe in the future of glass and have made it our challenge to make this world a glassy place. Are you in?

A new study from the US Breast Cancer Fund has found that some packaged foods targeted at children contain high levels of Bisphenol-A (BPA). BPA has been found to have adverse affects on the development of children and may cause certain types of cancer. Unlike other packaging materials, glass contains no BPA.

The Breast Cancer Fund is urging parents to avoid packaging materials such as plastics and cans until legislation is implemented banning BPA in all food containers. The European Union and Canada have already banned the chemical in baby bottles.

One of the easiest ways for all of us to avoid ingesting BPA is to purchase our packaged foods in glass containers. Glass is still the only packaging material which is exempt from European Union rules on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH). It is also the only packaging material to be Generally Regarded As Safe (GRAS) by the US Food and Drug Administration.

To be sure your children are only getting the healthiest food, why not try canning your own food in glass jars? It’s a very simple process and all you need is a large pot, glass jars with tight-fitting lids, and something to preserve. You can use fruit, vegetables, soup, meat and even fish. A good source of recipes is the Food in Jars blog. There are also great links to other canning sites, a reading list and loads of useful tips and tricks. For a quick overview of the process, take a look at this informative video.

Ayelet Naturals is a boutique range of organic aromatherapy, skincare, bath and body products. The brand’s line of scrubs recently underwent a redesign by specialist agency Oh Boutique from Argentina. The new packaging includes glass jars which allow the natural and organic qualities of the products to shine through. The glass truly intensifies the pureness of the natural scrubs.

So, what’s not to love?! Pure from the in- and outside!  Glass has nothing to hide. Ayelet products are available from a number of online stores including Etsy.

On 1 January 2010, Vancouver resident Taina Uitto made a pledge to live her life without plastic for the next year. Uitto documented her efforts on her Plastic Manners blog, even photographing the non-recyclable materials she acquired each month (here you can see her collection for February 2010).

Although it was not easy to give up plastics totally for a year, Uitto continues to refuse them. She also encourages others to make the effort, an initiative that the Friends of Glass wholeheartedly support. We know of at least five good reasons to choose glass any day!

To give people a taste of what is involved, Uitto started the Day Without Plastic blog – encouraging people to give up plastics for just one day on either World Ocean Day (8 June) or International Coastal Cleanup Day (19 September). Now environmental blogging site Re-Nest is challenge everyone to give up plastics for a month.

Re-Nest have published a list of three steps almost anyone can follow. One is a step that Uitto took at the beginning of her life without plastic: making an inventory of the plastics already in your home. The inventory helps you to understand where you can replace plastics with more sustainable materials such as glass.

So do you think that you could give up plastic for a day, a month, or even a year? Can you make a sustainable switch to glass or convince others to glass up their lives?

Why not make your pledge on the Friends of Glass Facebook page and share your tips! Because glass truly has nothing to hide!

Our Austrian and Swiss Friends of Glass have been busy creating a new game called Sounds of Glass. The game enables you to compose a tune for your very own glass bottle and jar orchestra. Although the site is in German, you don’t need to understand the language to make your own beats. There are four different types of sound available: Lead; Percussion; Bass; and Drum.

Select the type of sound first, then click on a bottle or jar to fill it with water. The filled containers are ‘played’ as the light passes over them. You can combine one or more of the four sound types to create your tune.

For each sound type, there are four different ‘rooms’. Experiment by creating different tunes in each room and combining them together in your own unique sound combinations. You can save your song and share it with others on the Sounds of Glass site. While the results might not be as sophisticated as the Lernert & Sander glass harp we featured here earlier this year, it’s a lot more fun!

The game is incredibly simple but devilishly addictive. Cancel your meetings, take the telephone off the hook and put on your headphones now!