Esque Recycled Beer Bottle Vases

Why It's Good:

Enough already with tulip-shaped Murano vases and glass paperweights. If you want a beautiful, unique art object, Esque studios are the glass-blowing darlings of the design world, with their gold-leaf skulls, upside-down bird paperweights, life-like hearts and even gnomes in the most amazing vivid chartreuse.

Why It's Green:

Esque is a studio to watch—their glass "game" and eco-operations are always on the rise. Their furnaces run on wind power, and their blowers recycle about a hundred pounds of excess glass daily, used in their 100% recycled collections. All Esque items are packed with biodegradable peanuts and materials that are 50% recycled.

Where To Get It:

Check out all their amazing glass designs in the current collection by clicking here, then hitting "products" and "limited/new for 08." See something you love? Call the studio at (503) 289-6392.

Guzzle This Gorgeousness

I've never been a dogged lover of art glass. Sure, I appreciate the mastery of Dale Chihuly, but that's museum fodder, and not quite attainable for us mere mortals. But what could be more attainable—and fun—than a recycled beer bottle? It takes a serious artist to make one of those chic enough to display on a Noguchi coffee table. The glass-blowing duo from Portland, Oregon responsible for this recycled-glass Esque collection, Andi Kovel and Justin Parker, have already enjoyed instant editorial stardom. So it's nice to see their design studio evolving and executing work with the same humor and tenacity in an eco-conscious medium. But back to the beer bottle: This is no refuse from a killer Guinness binge with American Spirits floating in the backwash. This "Beer Bottle Bottle" is a hand-etched, gold-leaf vase that comes in a limited edition of 250, and retails for $140 to $220 each.—Allison Reynolds