What is a safe way to break up glass?
+7
We can no longer recycle glass in our area and the thought of all that going into the landfill makes me ill so I need a way to break it up to at least reduce the volume. I put some bottles in a couple plastic grocery bags and that inside a canvas bag with a coating on the outside, then took a hammer to it, but shards managed to rip thru the canvas. Any ideas besides going to the Army-Navy surplus store and buying something made from kevlar? A large galvanized or heay plastic container and a maul? Goggles, of course. Thanks.
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Piece of wood between glass and bag? Probably should only do a small amount at a time. Drop the bottles in a bag first to get the pieces smaller to start off with.
Break them in a plastic or metal can that you get just for that use. You can crush larger pieces with weight to make them smaller.
I would leave in its original form. You have no idea how many trash pickers are at your local dump, they pick out items to be recycled and will drive to an area that does recycle and get money for it.
i think the Army Surplus store is your best for heavy duty items. But your container idea would work too. Or call your county office/extension office and see what they suggest, they may surprise you with ideas or know of projects. My thoughts are the same as yours when recycling is discontinued.
First, bring less glass into your home. Second, try to find a home for the glass by offering it free on craigslist or local ads. Someone may have a use for it! Third, I am afraid that breaking glass into shards before disposing is going to pose danger to anyone who comes near it and over-wrapping it just adds to the waste. I would put a few pieces (unbroken) in each bag of trash and write letters to anyone involved in that near-sighted decision to not recycle glass anymore.
The danger to you from broken glass is greater than the landfill you worry about. How do you know your area does not recycle glass? At our transfer station we see those big containers (like on fixer upper)filled with glass and we marvel at how eventually the glass will be reground to a sand like consistency. Our town recycles everything! My pet landfill peeve is plastic poop filled diapers. How hard can it be to separate the paper lining with the poop from the plastic?