“I wasn’t really interested in doing a business that only had relevance in San Diego,” said BottleHood co-owner Steve Cherry during a recent visit to his production facility in El Cajon, CA. And when I say “facility” I really mean a small storage and processing building at the end of a tight winding hilly tangerine-lined drive, a few work stations covered by tents, and a hillside of sorted boxes with empty used bottles awaiting their transformation from trash to useful product. If the facility sounds small, that’s because it is. That’s not only the key to its charm, but it’s also its secret weapon.

“This is a business that is very very scalable, meaning one location can get very big for very little money. And it’s also easily replicable, meaning you can easily start another one in another neighborhood,” Steve adds. “Southern California is hardly a sustainability leader [but] if we can make a success of BottleHood in San Diego, then there are probably twenty other cities in the U.S. where we can be even more successful.”

Steve’s new business venture, BottleHood, collects discarded bottles from various sources and cuts them into juice glasses, tumblers, vases, candle holders, and more. In August 2009 Steve was fed up with what he was doing and tells me half-heartedly that he had considered opening a taco stand in Costa Rica. With co-owner Leslie Tiano they decided to create an enterprise that could support the local economy, create local jobs, stop jobs from moving offshore, and keep valuable glass out of the landfill.

Just eleven U.S. states have container deposit laws, what are usually referred to as bottle bills. In most cases, the state charges beverage distributors a fee on certain types of containers. That fee is passed on to retailers and is ultimately paid by consumers. That fee can be recovered when consumers return used containers to recycling centers. In those states with bottle bills, recycling rates for glass, aluminum, and plastic are more than twice the national average. In fact, the eleven states with such programs recycle as much total volume as the other thirty-nine sates combined. In 1986, California passed the California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act – that’s legislature-speak for bottle bill. Just ten years after the bill was enacted, beer and soda bottle recycling rates rose to 80%.

There is, however, one side effect of such legislation that’s often overlooked and rarely discussed. Any law that increases the value of some containers can, and often does, reduce the value of others. For example, in California, glass soft drink, energy drink, beer, and water containers qualify for the program. They have redemptive value (CRV). Wine and liquor bottles do not qualify for the program; their recycling rates are significantly lower, and they have limited value. The program incentivizes the collection and return of some containers and creates disincentive for others. The next time you’re in a bar, restaurant, or nightclub, glance at the shelves of bottles behind the bar and you’ll see an incredible collection of beautifully designed objects. Expand your view just a little and you’ll find a treasure trove of small soda bottles and micro brewed beer with stunning silk screened labels.

Most wine and liquor bottles end up in landfills. Only a small percentage is recycled. In Steve’s storage building he shows me a rack of drinking glasses made from triple weight wine bottles manufactured in France and used by a domestic winery. When purchasing fine wine, the bottle shape, glass color, and glass thickness all have positive value. They’ve been selected or designed to perform specific functions that add to the value of their contents. When these bottles are recycled, however, the shape is then considered waste. The bottles must be crushed for the glass be recovered, reused, and formed into another shape. And with those high quality wine bottles that Steve showed me, the glass itself has no greater value in the recycling process than any of the low quality glass it’s mixed with. It’s tragic that the glass, color, and shape value are so dramatically diminished in the current system.

This is where BottleHood comes in. They’ve created a business model that saves beautifully crafted bottles, those made with high quality glass, those with unique shapes, or those with well designed labels. In some cases, they actually increase the value of the used bottles being saved. For example, they sell tumblers cut from Charles Shaw wine bottles sold at Trader Joe’s – better known as Two Buck Chuck. Believe it or not, when those bottles are cut into the tumbler shape, they sell for more than the original $1.99. A bottle of Two Buck Chuck is actually worth more as a salvaged object.

For more than an hour Steve walks me through every one of his shelves telling me stories about every bottle and why it’s worth saving. And that’s when it hits me: the most interesting aspect of what BottleHood is doing is saving and enhancing the stories behind objects that have been artfully crafted by real people. The stories Steve tells me are not about big corporate enterprises, instead they are about people. By saving the bottles, he brings to light human interest stories that don’t have the same opportunity for exposure.

Although operating for less than a year, success has come quickly and the model seems to be proving itself. Steve and Leslie have plans to explore other cities around the country where they know an ample supply of used bottles can be sourced. I encourage you to check out the company and their products. And if you live in the San Diego area, visit BottleHood at the Hillcrest Farmer’s Market every Sunday between 9am and 2pm.

As Father’s Day approaches, Steve is frantically collecting as many bottles with names that have any reference to fathers – Dad’s Root Beer, Dad’s Cream Soda, Big Daddy IPA, Double Daddy IPA, you get the picture. If you can think of any, let him know. He’s hoping they’ll have the same thematic appeal that Arrogant Bastard Ale did for Valentine’s Day. He tells me, “every woman has an arrogant bastard in their lives, right?”

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BottleHood Featured by the San Diego Union Tribune from steve cherry on Vimeo.

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