I have to admit it, I’ve always loved terrazzo from Venice. And now I’m gaa-gaa for Vetrazzo counters. This isn’t a sales pitch, but when you consider the “green” qualities of these recycled glass counters and their look, aren’t you impressed? I’ve read that 85 percent of these countertops are comprised of post-consumer glass from residential curbside or industrial recycling programs, held together by good old Portland cement, pigments, and binders. Thrown a colorful liquor bottle into the recycling bin? You might find it in a cobalt countertop.

Trendir

Depending on your color choice, Vetrazzo makes counters from crushed beer bottles, recycled auto safety glass, decommissioned traffic light lenses, broken drinking glasses, windows, or laboratory glass—offered in nearly two-dozen color combos to fit your decor. According to Trendir, each countertop is created in unique patterns from 100 percent American used glass.

Sustainable Kitchen Countertops

The first polymer-based terrazzo was manufactured in the 1970s, but there was nothing eco-friendly about their vinyl ester binders.  In addition to getting high marks among sustainable kitchen counters, Vetrazzo is said to be comparable in durability and scratch resistance to granite and stone. And like a good green countertop, it’s not held together by petroleum-based resins like other manufactured counter materials.

Now that I’ve tooted that horn, let me also praise other green countertop products like end-grain bamboo, butcher-block wood countertops with materials harvested from managed forests, recycled concrete, recycled paper composites, recycled natural stone, recycled tile with non-toxic grout, and even recycled aluminum, which is coated with a non-toxic surface and can be dropped off at a recycling center when it’s served a useful klitchen lifetime.