Ten Green Modular Shelving: shelving and tables using glass bottles

Ten Green is a modular shelving system, constructed simply from local recyclates.

This prototype was built with the Coach House Trust in Glasgow, using bottles from their recycling centre, and wood from the maintenance of their own sites. You can use any found timber, and adapt the dimensions to suit the wood you are working with.

Some examples are for sale at our shop here.

Design is released under a share alike/attribution CC license by Zero-waste Design.

Step 1 Get your bits n bobs.

For one module you will need:

Four bottles. All the same brand/height/shape preferable. Wash them thoroughly in hot soapy water.

Two hook and eye strainers / turnbuckles as they are sometimes called. I used the smallest I could find, which are 14mm OD at the buckle and 5mm OD at the threads. Such as these from Screwfix.

Two planks of wood, prepared as shown in the .pdf template - careful! there are two different hole diameters, and if you are leaving one rough edge as I did here, make sure you take your measurements from the straight datum edge.

*REVISION* I would now NOT drill the holes in the lower shelf (the 30mm ones) all the way through, but drill them from below to half depth, using a flat bit. They will then rest on the tops of the bottles of the module below, rather than allowing the necks to pass striaght through as was the case in this prototype. (See discussion in comments)

Screw in the cup hooks halfway between the holes on either side, as shown. Depending on the height of your bottles, you may need some ess hooks too to help the strainer reach between the upper and lower hooks.

Comments

[jdrolte]

For those worrying about the weight placed on these bottles remember that glass has excellent properties for compression strength. I've seen a grown man stand on one wine glass before without it breaking: http://www.hulu.com/watch/245090/nova-making-stuff-stronger Start the episode at around 34:55 to see what I'm talking about. 

[Shanball]

awesome video link. kudos for sharing. he stands on ONE glass! yea, the shelves with bottles will be fiiiine.

i used to work in a winery, and would walk on wine bottles all the time. never tried a glass, but the bottles never flinched. you could stack a lot of weight on a bottle.

[sonydhiman]

Great stuff.. Thanks for sharing this idea..
scrabble cheat

[zxcpimp]

Great stuff.. Thanks for sharing this idea..
scrabble cheat scrabble word cheat

[LuzminasCorner]

Love that idea!, is just amazing!!

[DIYDragon]

Cool! Some lights inside the bottles would be nice looking.. *ponders ideas for own projects*..

[mr_kronk]

lol i was gonna mention that myself but then i saw you beat me to it good idea though, could also turn all the bottles into lava lamps too.

[cfischer505]

I'm going to use a shortened set of xmas lights in mine, even in an amber color bottle they will look great.

[paralyzedcitizen]

Fantastic project! Thanks for the inspiration :) Here's mine below. I didn't want to loose any height because I wanted to use bottles of my favourite ale so I haven't drilled through the shelves.

[royshearer]

Hi, great stuff! The 30mm holes are primarily for making assembly easier, and help if the shelving is ever subjected to a significant sideways knock, but are not essential as you show. That is a fine selection of ales indeed.

[royshearer]

Rogier Martens' version using straps and plywood:

http://www.rogiermartens.nl/2010/08/27/362/

Makes a nice clean display system.

[INTHERMA]

Great idea! Thanks

[dbbd]

I'm absolutely going to try this with nice scotch bottles. I never liked to throw these away, and now I can put them to good use.

[FencingSmoker]

I used liquor bottles for the supports and an old, falling apart dining room table for the wood. Thanks for this great Instructable! 

[juanoporras]

Oh man thanks, I needed some tables and shelves, was thinking on buying some, but this is a really cool idea, thanks for sharing. ;) maybe a tip to make then better; On the tables where the bottles are upside down touching the ground; if the place where is located is not soft like a carpet you have the risk of breaking the bottles, you can maybe add corks or plastic/rubber caps so the bottles wont break easily or maybe scratch the floor. thanks again!

[Einarjon]

Whatever the surface, popping in some champagne corks would be a good idea. It would be easier on the bottles and the ground.

[drbill]

Plastic corks for feet. Good idea.

[svfox69]

You could make this for $1.00
Time to head over to my brothers for some wood.

Steve
http://scrabblecheat.com

[trike road poet]

I intend to use some old wine bottles, (and I'm thinking of stacking some of those metal spice containers) to make the shelf spacers for a shelf in the pantry/kitchen area.  An easy and delightfully eye catching project.  Solid instructable and one to get the creative juices flowing.  This is a project where individual creativity can get a chance to blossom, this is one of the best instructables yet, a starting point that leads you into your own creations.

 Thanks!!!

[Einarjon]

Possible money saving tip: When doing many shelves, instead of using a hook and turnbuckle for each shelf; use a single turnbuckle on each side.
Just drill a tiny hole into all the middle shelves and lead a wire through them. Put hooks into the top and bottom ones and connect it to the turnbuckle with the wire.

[crazyjaesi]

I used beer bottles and hung it on the wall  www.facebook.com/photo.php

[ademczuk]

Here's my attempt. 27 hours and $360 (AUD) later. Used a sand-paint finish and enlarged a drawing the person I made it for (from a6 to a3) with a photocopier then stencil spray painted it on top

[red9er]

how much weight can it hold? great idea but if the bottom bottles can only support... oh, 25lbs, what good would it be?

[royshearer]

I would recommend anyone making this instructable to load up the bottom unit beyond what they expect it to have to hold as way of testing, before building the units up properly. I did this when prototyping, by standing on the bottom unit. The critical weights of course depend on the timber used, what you're going to put on the shelves, and the strength of the bottles, all of which might vary significantly from person to person. If anyone has any test results, do post them here.

For my part, I used 250mm high beer bottles here, with approx. 30mm thick timber, each unit weighing approx. 8 kilos. The lowest unit would need to take 16 kilos before loading, so I tested it to my weight, about 55 kilos (yes, I'm real skinny!). That way I knew I could put on at least 39kg of stuff.

Hooray for empiricaldata!

[svfox69]

The weight would vary on the type of bottles used.
You would have to experiment to find out your bottles capability.

steve
http://scrabblecheat.com

[chenhong]

very.good

[miseleigh]

For people worried about breaking the bottles - I haven't tried this, but if (when?) I make these shelves, I will find some kind of filling for the bottles. Even something as simple as candle wax would help keep the bottles sturdier. Didn't I see a homemade cement instructable recently? Just be cautious about using something that requires lots of heat, or something that would expand as it cools or dries.

[kckckc2522]

Wow! Love this! My kitchen and dining room are all grapes and wine images. What better way to add to that theme!! Will use bottles saved from a local winery.

[Gallois]

Excellent design. You were correct that it is better to drill the bottom recesses halfway. Also, using a chain, screw eye, and bolt hook is less expensive that the turnbuckles (see photo).

[Nachimir]

Thanks for this, brilliant idea. I saw this when it was first posted and finally pushed to start and finish something I've been planning ever since:

http://flickr.com/photos/rubberdreamfeet/tags/shelves/

Different method using nylon rope instead of turnbuckles. Mainly decided on that because really nice looking stainless turnbuckles were hella expensive ;)

[Fasteners]

wow this is really cool

[dakotacrow]

how much weight would these hold because I have a lot of books.

[ewilhelm]

The projected was mentioned on WCBS this morning!

[shooby]

Great execution of a simple idea. The wood you used really makes it though. The contrast between the thin, man made, smooth glass and the thick rough cut shelving is great.

[carpespasm]

Finally made some shelves inspired by your design. They're not modular, but they are quite stable.

[royshearer]

thanks carpespasm - they look really good! The modular thing has really turned out to be unnecessary for most people I think , so you're definitely not alone.

[cleargreenfire]

Thanks for sharing this I'm always looking for new ways to use wood scavenged from construction site scraps.

[emecklen]

My boyfriend and I did this with some thrown out wood and beer bottles. Thank you so much!!

[spydyr]

I think a set of Bawls bottles and some LED bulbs would add a good touch to the table idea.

[sullanfield72]

So just how strong are these shelves? Any ballpark on how much weight they'd hold before cracking? I know that they're supposed to be really strong but I'm still sort of nervous about loading them with books and a stereo.