Glass is an essential product used in everyday life. It has been used for many years now for windows, doors, bottles, glasses and much more. Here we have 10 interesting facts about glass from its history, to its effect on our language:
1. The oldest examples of glass are Egyptian beads dating from 12,000 BC.
2. Glass was affordable for people in the 17th century to use for windows. This meant people lived a more disease-free and hygienic life.
3. Glass is 100% recyclable, over and over again.
4. Recycling a single bottle will power a 100-watt light bulb for nearly an hour.
5. It takes more than 1 million years for glass to decompose.
6. Approximately 330 glass bottles and jars are used by every family each year in the UK.
7. Many glass making terms have entered our language. For example, ‘shut yer gob’, this refers to a molten lump of glass which is called a ‘gob’. Another example derives from when a glass blower used a tube to blow the glass into shape, which made his cheeks very large. Now someone with a big mouth is told they have a ‘big gob’.
8. Glass is sand melted at extremely high temperatures and then cooled.
9. Natural glass found inside volcanoes is called Obsidian.
10. When glass breaks, the cracks move at a speed of about 3000mph.
Glass is a fundamental material to so many industries, including our own. We use glass in most of our products and we recycle as much as we can, including your old windows as well.
To find out more about our products and how we can help you by recycling your old windows then feel free to contact us today!
