Christine's floor warmed by touch of glass

A Nelson woman believes she has the answer to the growing stockpile of glass waiting to be recycled - glass floors.

Speech and language therapist Christine Musgrave built her passive solar-heated house at Mapua two years ago, burying hundreds of old glass bottles in sand before covering them with concrete.

She said the glass trapped and released heat and the house required little heating, even in winter. "It's like having a nightstore heater under your floor. If it's cloudy we light the fire, otherwise we don't bother, even in frosty weather."

Ms Musgrave said the idea came from eco-builder Alan Stanton, who also lived there. Twelve wool bales full of bottles were used to construct the floors. The bottles came from the Richmond recycling centre and cost only $135 to transport. A bottle-laying party, with a group of friends, meant it took just a few hours to do the construction work.

Ms Musgrave said she wanted to share her success story after reading of the trouble recyclers were having getting rid of the bottles they had accumulated.

- NZPA