I still wanted to work with glass, but could not afford to invest in a glass-melting furnace, so instead I looked for other techniques that I could use as a hobby while unemployed. I have always been in favour of a recycling society, and new recycling techniques for non-returnable packaging are essential.
I took my interest in the environment and used it as the basis for a business idea: to reshape glass bottles and jars. After two years of experimenting and fixing up my workplace, "Heinz Tomato Ketchup" found they liked my carafes and jars made from their 1 kg bottles. They gave me an order for 300 carafes to give away as business gifts and use in public relations promotions.
They started an advertising campaign using a brochure distributed via the ketchup shelves of Sweden's largest department stores. That was how the "snowball effect" started, with other companies also wanting to raise their environmental profiles, including recycling their glass packaging.
The timing was perfect. I started my company in January, 1994 and within a year a new law had been passed, placing obligations on companies regarding their glass packaging.
Our glass is now sold in about 50 stores in Sweden and we have also begun to export a small amount. Since the raw material is free, and because we don't use processes demanding high energy, we can keep our prices very low in comparison to those of traditional studio glass.