Bottlelicious: Chandeliers Made Out of Recycled Glass

Photo: Jack Zalium

It makes sense for bars, pubs and restaurants to use their, er, raw materials and get creative with a bit of bottle recycling of their own. Chandeliers made of old glass bottles show that recycling can be stylish and rustic at the same time. But even individuals with the right kind of collector spirit (or access to the raw materials) can fabricate beautiful chandeliers out of recycled glass bottles. And they don’t need to be big and bulky. We’ve found five that are truly inspiring!

5. Color Me Green

Photo: Jennifer Boyer

Here, we can see what a bit of selective recycling can do. Dozens of the same green glass bottles make up this beautiful and stylish five-tier chandelier. And yes, it can be found at the Jameson Distillery in Dublin, Ireland. 

4. Fair and Square 

Photo: Quinn Dombrowski 

If you happen to have bottles of different colors, sizes and shapes - no worries. They can still make for a pretty attractive chandelier as we can see here. Don't miss the cool shadows on the ceiling! 

3. Wine Charm

Photo: Nadine Schaeffer

No, this isn't an original chandelier from the Seventies. That effect is thanks to the Instagram app. But this five-tier chandelier is a timeless beauty, made of dozens of clear wine bottles. It graces the ceiling of the Bonny Doon Vineyard Cellar Door Cafe, where it no doubt inspires collections for a second one.  

2. Beer Light

Photo: Andy Blackledge

Yup, this beer bottle chandelier is quite popular among bars and pubs because each bottle can be replaced individually, thus opening the door for themed promotions, seasonal designs and other fun stuff. Hard to believe that all this great raw material would have gone out in the recycling bin otherwise. Pair the chandelier with a string of party lights and you got a winning combination. Somewhat romantic too. 

1. Tipsy Turvy  

Photo: Jax House

Our favorite, a chandelier that's a bit different, snaking through the whole room. This design is perfect for staircases, high ceilings, museums... Anywhere where there's lots of space. The advantage here too is that each bottle is attached separately and can thus be replace separately too. Sleek, stylish and innovate. What's not to love?

Poo-tiful: Paper Made Out of Elephant Dung

Photo: Justin Baeder  

Yup, you read that right. There’s paper made out of elephant poo out there. And it’s nice looking too and doesn’t smell at all. This just goes to show that you can make paper out of any kind of fiber. But one step after the other. Let’s look at how paper is made out of elephant poo.

First things first. Elephants are large animals and thus, spend almost 16 hours a day eating to sustain all that bod mass. They are not only purely vegetarian but herbivores, meaning they chomp on the leaves and bark of trees, shrubs, fruits, grasses and herbs. As poor digesters, 50% of what goes into an elephant comes out exactly the same way, thus elephants’ dung is just fiber. And guess what, fibers are the first stage of the elephant poo paper making process. Thank you, Mr. or Ms. Elephant!

Photo: Ian Barbour

Then, the dung has to be collected. And there’s lots of it – an average elephant will produce about 50 kg of dung. Every day. Phew, that’s a lot of dung! (In case you were wondering, to get that kind of, er, output, an elephant eats about 200-250 kg of food a day!) But back to the 50 kg of dung – that’s about enough for 115 sheets of paper. Not bad, eh?

Photo: Harvey Barrison 

Now, the collected dungs gets washed and boiled for about five hours. Yup, slow and steady does it. The elephant poo pulp is then spun around for about three hours to cut the fibers.

Then, color is added depending on the color the finished paper is supposed to have. Given that this is such a natural process, only natural dyes and colors should be used. Natural vegetative binding agents, for example, or water-soluble salt dyes are great. Then, the pulp is shaped into balls of equal size and sifted evenly onto large frames.

Photo: Colin & Sarah Northway

These dry in the sun and after all the moisture has evaporated – voila, there’s your colored sheet of paper! Now it just needs to be sanded so that it has a smoother surface. Then, it is cut into the desired size and shape so that it can be assembled into letter paper, note pads, greeting cards and more. Done! How neat is that?

Photo: Justin Baeder 

But it gets even better. Initiatives like Mr. Ellie Pooh LLC not only make beautiful paper products, they also work on establishing local industries out of this process that will help improve elephant-human interactions. Currently, many elephants are killed because they are “in the way” of agriculture and other projects but once they are part of the industry as one of the main suppliers of the raw material, they will be seen as an asset rather than a threat and treated with respect. Inspiring to say the least! Now if only human poo were as useful.

Death is but a state of mind

Photo: Liesvanrompaey

“I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.” ― Mark Twain

Cemeteries are quiet, peaceful and can be haven for the living. The photograph here was taken in Joal-Fadiouth, Senegal. Apart from being simple and beautiful, the cemetery is a "mixed" one as photographer Lies tells us: "Not only do Muslims and Christians lie side by side, but all families - regardless of their faith." Now that's an inspiration. And, as she rightly observed, they also have sacred baobab trees to watch over them.

Trash into Treasure: Recycled Robo Planters Bring Old Gadgets Back to Life

Photo: Mario Caicedo Langer

For Colombian artist and sculptor Mario Caicedo Langer, gadgets don’t just die once they cease to fulfil their intended functions as shavers, joysticks, computers and what not. Even more mundane objects like picture frames, coffee filters and old deodorant bottles are not safe from Mario. He takes metallic, inorganic objects and turns them into functional, organic sculptures. 

Though at times a bit menacing-looking, his Robo Planter series is anything but. In fact, the artist literally breathed new life into these objects that many would simply regard as trash by filling them with plants. Lucky bamboo, cacti and creepers happily flourish in their unusual pots.

Planter Man, seen here, for example, was made out of a broken coffee filter, old knobs, roll-on deodorant balls (for the eyes), the nozzle from a damaged heat gun and a plastic cap that doubles as a hand. Really cool, creative and inspiring! In fact, we’d strongly suggest taking a look at Mario’s flickr stream for more inspiration.

Haute Moo-ture: Organic Fashion Made from Milk

Photo: Qmilk 

Qmilk is a revolutionary new fiber made from casein, a waste product of the milk process. German  inventor, fashion designer and biologist Anke Domaske got the idea for the smooth, anti-allergenic fiber when her stepfather reacted allergic to all chemicals around him, even those in clothing, when suffering from leukaemia.    

“Qmilk combines physical properties such as purity, softness and absorbency and is manufactured using an environment-friendly process with no waste, a production time of only one hour and using only a maximum of 2 litres of water,” explains Domaske. That’s only two litres of water for every kilogram of fabric produced. In addition, the process requires no harmful chemicals, leaves zero waste behind and relies on green electricity.

What’s not to love about this new fiber? Critics have argued that using milk as a raw material for fabrics would lead to an increase in milk production but Domaske can rebut this point. It’s not milk that is used for the Qmilk fiber but casein, a powder-like substance (once processed) and waste product of the milk production process that is not suitable for human consumption. Usually, casein is headed for disposal or is used for making glue, paint, cosmetics or pharmaceutical products like pills.

Photo: Qmilk

And there’s lots of it too – in Germany, Domaske’s home country, which has very strict food laws, about 20% of all milk produced is deemed not fit for human consumption. So no need to worry about running out of their raw material for Domaske and her team.

Using casein is not new. Even Stone Age people knew how to use it as an adhesive agent for cave and rock paintings, the Old Egyptians used casein as furniture glue and the Romans as plaster for their many buildings. Today, clothes and fabrics made from organic milk fibers will find potential applications as home, medical, technical and clothing textiles. The challenge facing the young, Hanover-based company at the moment is finding investors, getting machinery and starting mass production of the innovative new fiber.

The first fashion collection made of organic milk fabrics, by the way, can be sampled from Domaske herself. Her line Mademoiselle Chi Chi (MCC) started nine years ago and has been worn by Hollywood celebrities like Mischa Barton and Ashlee Simpson. The label now presents a “milky collection”. Milk never looked so good!

Change is good!

Image: Keith Trice 

"The only thing constant in life is change." 

- Francois de la Rochefoucauld

Just as this 17th-century French author rightly said, change is the only constant in life. That's somehow a comforting thought as change is what keeps life exciting. After all, who'd want to experience the same thing day after day?


And keeping with this motto, even this blog has changed. But don't worry, not too much. After a creative break, we are back with a bang. Apart from inspirational quotes and amazing photographs, A Smile A Day will also feature inspiring art, mind-blowing inventions and creative recycling. And of course we'll keep smiling, certainly more than once a day. How does that sound?


Stormtrooper T-241 is pondering it all while enjoying the changing seasons on his lofty perch.