Deby Cowdin--Turning Trash into Functional Art

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Dishes and Serving Trays Made From Recycled Glass at From The Blue Bag

Deby Cowdin is a close friend of mine and fellow entrepreneur. She has built a business called From The Blue Bag, based on recycling glass bottles from local Cleveland Ohio bars and restaurants and turning them into practical and functional recycled glass serving dishes, trays, and bowls.

Deby Cowdin started with a small business in her home and has grown it to over 50 retailers that carry her recycled glass dishes across the U.S.  From The Blue Bag now operates out of a warehouse turned repurposing plant, creating new products and shipping them all over the country.

Deby is trained as a glass artist, and has taken her training and skills to create functional recycled glass art from trash.

Bottled Up
Click to learn more about Deby and From The Blue Bag

What Makes the Recycled Glass Idea Work? 

The reason Deby has been so successful is the level of dedication she has to her company and her product. Deby accepts no less than the perfect product each time, and is completely focused on the customer. She is fast and efficient and keeps her promises.

Deby also works extremely hard at finding opportunities to show her recycled dishware. She spends much of her time on the road to different art shows, wine shows, and various other themed shows that can bring the products directly in front of the end customer.

Deby Cowdin tirelessly sells her recycled glass company and product everywhere she goes. Added to that, she often helps fellow artists and entrepreneurs to get their foot in the door of various opportunities.

To keep her product fresh, she is constantly looking for new ideas based on her original premise.

Earth Day Year Round 

It's Earth Day year round at the From the Blue Bag office and studio, ever since Deby Cowdin decided to start a business that focused on using her art to creatively convey the importance of recycling to everyone.

The company began with one product, a flattened wine bottle cheese tray that was an improvement on an existing concept that Deby had seen at a friend's house. But the line expanded and business really took off when the food functional serving trays and dishes were developed with a little help from the ingenuity of husband Scott. All of the items in From The Blue Bag's current product line are food functional, meaning they are freezer, oven and dishwasher safe.

From the Blue Bag obtains their materials by engaging local bars and restaurants to join in its bottle recycling program. The company provides a collection receptacle and comes to empty it once a week. They also encourage these companies to recycle their stryofoam peanuts and bubble wrap, both of which do not biodegrade in a landfill.

The gift industry is constantly looking for new and innovative gifts. The green movement is spreading so rapidly some couples have even planned their weddings with completely environmentally aware products and services. From the Blue Bag filled this gift niche by investing in equipment that can laser etch an invitation right onto a bottle. They can also personalize any of their other products.

Who knew trash would be in Deby's future? She sure didn't.

Brooke Cowdin

Freelance Writer

Flea Market Style 

Use recycled goods to decorate your home

"Flea Market Style" gives you all the information and advice you need to furnish and decorate your home with "found" objects instead of new items bought in stores. Emily Chalmers and Ali Hanan explain how to find fresh and unexpected uses of second-hand pieces and antiques, and reveal how to mix old and new with flair and panache. The first part of the book, Flea Market Finds, looks at household goods, from fabrics and furniture to china, kitchenware, glass and lighting, and describes how to find special objects and indentify them on the basis of their quality, character, resillience, colour, and texture. The authors advocate a subtle mixing of styles, patterns, and colours, and emphasize the beauty of objects that have seen a bit of life. They explain how to locate bargain copies of modern classics--or the real things--and how to mix flea-market or thrift-store finds with high-end basics. The second part of the book, Putting It All Together, shows how to incorporate the style in every room--from the spaces where you cook, eat, sleep, or relax to bathing spaces and work spaces. The book ends with an extensive directory of suppliers. -Add a large dose of originality to your home--at low cost. -Lively text illustrated with Debi Treloar's inspirational photographs.
Flea Market Style

Flea Market Style

by: Emily Chalmers, Ali Hanan

Amazon Price: $18.15 (as of 12/29/2009)Buy Now

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From The Blue Bag Recycled Glass Wedding Bottle 

A Custom Gift Perfect to Celebrate the Occasion

From The Blue Bag has created the perfect gift for any bride and groom and customers are eating it up.

From The Blue Bag will take a champagne bottle, create a cheese tray out of it, then laser engrave an exact copy of the actual wedding invitation on the front. It comes with a stand, ribbons and rings for just $89.00.

And the gift is a green wedding gift to boot. Saving the ecology of the world one bottle at a time.

To purchase this or any From The Blue Bag items, follow this link.

Why Should I Recycle? 

Teaching our children to recycle

What if everybody threw away old bottles and newspapers, littering the world with glass and plastic and tin cans that should be recycled and made into new products? Mr. Jones is a teacher who sets a good example for kids by separating his trash for recycling. When he takes them on a class trip to a recycling plant they learn the value of recycling. Part of every child's development involves asking questions. Today, some of the most important questions kids ask are related to the natural environment. The enlightening and entertaining four-book Why Should I? series demonstrates the importance of protecting nature. Books present brief, entertaining stories that answer children's questions and feature amusing color illustrations on every page. A note at the back of each book is for parents and teachers, suggesting ways to use these books most effectively.
Why Should I Recycle? (Why Should I?)

Why Should I Recycle? (Why Should I?)

by: Jen Green

Amazon Price: $6.99 (as of 12/29/2009)Buy Now

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Every day is Earth Day. ~Author Unknown

Don't Throw It Out: Recycle, Renew and Reuse to Make Things Last  

This densely packed compendium from Yankee magazine takes recycling to the level of extreme sport. Whether you're trying to get that last smear of ketchup out of the bottle, make your cell phone last longer or find a second use for an old terra-cotta pot saucer, this book will explain how. Written in a cozy style, it covers every room in the house as well as outdoor sports and hobbies, lawn and garden, the home workshop and motor vehicles of all sorts. Got some old gardening gloves? Reuse the fingers to cover scissor points or make tiny drawstring bags. This book has Make It Last tips to maximize an item's life span, Fix It Fast tips for repairing in a hurry and Pass It Along tips to get rid of stuff you don't want but can't bear to throw away. For the truly fanatical, each chapter has a Domestic Challenge quiz. Just about anyone will find many of these ingenious, imaginative and practical hints useful, but with suggestions like saving old bath rugs for moving heavy appliances, readers trying to simplify their lives with feng shui may want to pass on this one.
Don't Throw It Out: Recycle, Renew and Reuse to Make Things Last

Don't Throw It Out: Recycle, Renew and Reuse to Make Things Last

by: Lori Baird, Editors of Yankee Magazine

Amazon Price: $12.21 (as of 12/29/2009)Buy Now

Review
The book covers virtually everything inside and outside the home. For example, the kitchen, chapter one, addresses everything from how to get the most efficient life out of your appliances to elongating the life of food. That's the practical side of the book.

Then there are the creative aspects--the renewing. Have an old wood table that is beyond fixing the marred surface? No problem--make a tile top!

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How Are You Helping Shrink Our Landfills? 

Do you contribute to the problem or the solution?

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I recycle by. . .

glassjubo says:

i also slump old bottles into cheese platters etc. i have been doing this since 2000. Its a very good idea for recycling for glass artists and is a good source of 'bread and butter' income.

Posted May 16, 2009

Don't really care too much about recycling.

 

Deby Cowdin: Making a Difference
Deby Cowdin Interview

I Can Save the Earth!: One Little Monster Learns to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle 

A new "green" series!: Little Green Books will educate children on what they can do to be more eco-friendly. The books in this line will be made from recycled materials, and the storylines will cover subjects such as improving the environment, learning about endangered animals, recycling, and much more.

Meet Max the Little Monster. He is a cute, furry green monster who is an environmental nightmare. Among other things, he leaves on all the lights, keeps his computer plugged in, blasts the TV, hoards his old toys and uses so much toilet paper it clogs the toilet until finally, his excessive ways cause a power outage. With no TV to watch, computer to play on, video games to play with, Max finds there is a whole big world outside that he can make a difference in the environment.

Kids can follow Max the Little Green Monster's journey to environmental awareness and learn tips on how they can become little green monsters themselves. A kid-friendly glossary of terms is included in the back of the book.

This 8x8 paperback is perfect bound and will be printed on 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper with soy-ink. The paper is FSC certified.
I Can Save the Earth!: One Little Monster Learns to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle (Little Green Books)

I Can Save the Earth!: One Little Monster Learns to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle (Little Green Books)

by: Alison Inches

Amazon Price: $3.99 (as of 12/29/2009)Buy Now

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Recycled Glass Guestbook 

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Lensmaster lakeerieartists has been a member since June 5 2008, has rated 2,105 lenses, favorited 133, and has created 260 lenses from scratch. This member's top-ranked page is "Making your First Lens Mentor". See all my lenses

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