I am sure that you have wished you could find a source of cheap aggregates. Look no further! Take a drive down to a couple of auto glass places and ask them if you could have the broken glass from the garbage. They have to pay to get rid of it so they will be glad to give it to you. You will be saving them money.

The glass you want is the stuff from rear and side windows. Im sure you have seen one break at one time or another. They shatter into little cubes about or so in size.

Get as much as you think you will need and take it home. Spread it out and clean out anything that is not glass. Now wash it with a hose and sweep it into a container.

The next batch of concrete you mix use the window glass instead of your normal 1 -2 3 mix. Make it 1 cement 2 sand 2 aggregate 1 glass mix. (1 2 2 1) This makes a real interesting looking finish and you will be helping save some space in the landfill.

You can use this mix in stepping stones, walkways, curbs, and just about any place you would use a standard concrete mix. Some of the glass will show on the surface and you can tell your friends that you have windows in the sidewalk.

If you want a bit of color some recycle places crush old bottles. The glass from there has lots of different colors and is a bit finer than the window glass. It is excellent as a sand replacement for ornamental casting. Use a mix of 1 cement, 2 sand, 1 glass for this.

Copyright 2005 Delmar Germyn. All rights reserved.