Muscling in on invasive species is possible – by turning them into glass

You might soon be sipping out of a drinking vessel made from pretty cerulean-coloured glass derived from mussels.

Imagine imbibing liquids out of an invasive species. You might soon be sipping out of a drinking vessel made from pretty cerulean-coloured glass derived from mussels. 

Zebra and Quagga Mussels, which are invasive to the USA’s great lakes ecosystem, just happen to provide the calcium carbonate and colourant used in soda lime glass, providing a renewable source of material whilst nullifying their ecological threat.

The Zebra Glass project was developed by colour and design students, Emily Marquette, Mahsa Banadaki, and Wei Huang. The team gathered shells from the beach in which they boiled, cleaned and broke down to create a powder. 

The powder remains is put into a mold and placed into a hot kiln to bake. 

Read more on the Zebra Glass project here

Credit:Emily marquette, Mahsa banadaki and Wei huang.