Last year alone, Kansas Citians threw away 150 million pounds of perfectly good glass. To the dismay of the people at Boulevard Brewing Company, this included some 10 million empty Boulevard bottles - lost forever, buried in local landfills.

Kansas City businesses use nearly 100 million pounds of recycled glass every year (brought in from hundreds of miles away), so why almost no local recycling? Because there was no nearby facility to process the glass. And why no local processor? Because, in classic chicken-and-egg fashion, there was almost no local recycling.

The folks at Boulevard finally got tired of being part of the problem. So, with the support of local companies and community organizations, they came up with a solution - Ripple Glass.

Ripple has constructed a state-of-the-art processing plant right here in KC, and placed dedicated glass recycling containers throughout the metro area. Best of all, we've found a local customer that will convert the recycled glass into fiberglass insulation, saving enormous amounts of energy and dramatically lowering emissions while producing a product that saves still more energy.

It's a great way to close the loop, protect the environment, support local businesses and even make homes more energy efficient.

But it will only work with your help, if you get involved. Help us do the right thing. Help us give glass a second chance.