Bottle bricks

Jan 29, 2026

It all started with someone leaving an empty glass bottle on top of an unfinished wall.. and as you will recall, we are constantly rebuilding walls that elephants knock over and figuring out ways to contain our growing number of ducks. So back to the bottle… the sun just happened to hit it in the right way, creating a marvelous reflection that caught everyone’s attention. That brief moment left us wondering. How much more interesting would it be if there were many other bottles on that wall? And that is how we became heavily distracted with this idea of bottle bricks. What a practical way to deal with the growing number of empty bottles which we collect from our restaurants, and store at Gobelo Farm!!

The wondering didn’t last long.. It was literally the very next day that Moses started playing around with the concept of building with bottles. At first we had lines of perfectly straight bottles, but before long we were integrating cement and developing a more organic pattern that spaced out and set bottles into the wall, using whatever different shapes, sizes of glass bottles (Moses is the builder of walls around here). And so the magic began. Gather as many bottles as possible. Empty glass bottles from around the farm, from the Gobelo restaurants and from nearby communities.

At first, it felt like a practical solution. Glass bottles pile up quickly and disposal options are limited. But once the first sections went up, it became clear that this was more than just a way to manage waste. The walls are striking. Light catches the glass differently throughout the day. Some bottles are clear, others tinted and together they create patterns and colour that change with the light, especially during sunrise and sunset.

What makes this even more rewarding is the process itself. Collecting bottles has turned into a shared effort. Staff, guests, neighbours, everyone has been contributing in their own way. Bottles that might have ended up scattered or buried are cleaned, sorted and given a second life. We have always looked for practical and sustainable ways to care for the land, and this project fits naturally into that. There is also a sense of satisfaction every time a new row or a new colour is added to a wall. Maybe it is the excitement of seeing waste put to good use, or simply the pleasure of building something useful and good-looking at the same time. It’s become a form of art and something we all collaborated on.

This kind of thinking has always been part of Gobelo’s approach. Learning by doing. Trying things out. Asking what else is possible with what is already here. Waste is usually treated as something to get rid of as quickly as possible. But standing next to a finished glass bottle wall challenges that idea. What if waste is only waste because we have not yet imagined another use for it?

The bottle walls have sparked new conversations on the farm. If glass can be reused like this, what about other materials? What about items that are usually thrown away without a second thought? There is a growing curiosity to experiment more, to learn better ways of handling what we discard and to see how far creative reuse can go. Not every idea will work and that is fine. The point is to keep trying, keep learning and keep sharing what works.

Community has always been central to Gobelo’s mission. This project ties closely to that focus on community and shared learning. When people see what can be done with something as ordinary as an empty bottle, recycling stops being this abstract concept and starts to feel practical and doable. The hope is that these ideas and this way of thinking travels beyond the farm. That neighbours try something similar. That children grow up seeing value where others see waste. There is still a lot to learn. Other techniques, other materials, new designs, but for now, these walls are a reminder that useful and good-looking solutions do not always have to be expensive or complicated. To us beauty exists in the simplicity of what is reclaimed and rugged.

At Gobelo, the work continues. One bottle at a time, one idea leading to the next. And hopefully, a few more people along the way starting to look at their own waste a little differently.

Until next time,
    the Gobelo team