Despite its popularity, the term sustainability is used in a wide variety of ways with a plethora of meanings. Frankly, if you ask 100 different people what sustainability means to them, you may just get 101 different answers. Wikipedia defines sustainabilityas the capacity to endure. That, my friends, is a big topic. So, let’s get to the heart of the matter and talk a little bit about the sustainable materials we use at DEX and our products philosophy. To DEX, it’s all about glass. We get pretty pumped to take a material that was destined for the landfill (or high energy recycling paths) and morph it into another form, ultimately creating a functional (and beautiful) item. In many European countries, glass bottles are still reused by bottlers since consumers can return them for rebates to be refilled and used again. This used to be common practice Stateside too, but now, due largely to economics, most glass bottles have only one use! Talk about a short life cycle! Lucky for us (and the environment), we can take that bottle and integrate it into a product that may just wind up as your countertop, dining table, fireplace surround or even your sink. Since these concrete and recycled glass products are made of hard surfacing materials, they can be repurposed or crushed and used again as aggregate at the end of their current life … which could be as many as 50 years. Now that’s cradle to cradle! Sustainable products reduce waste, have a long service life and are composed of materials that are an efficient use of our resources. Want to learn more about sustainability? The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery web site provides a comprehensive guideline. Resource Efficiency is at the heart of sustainability … and at the heart of the DEX business model. It’s accomplished by using materials that meet the following criteria:

• Recycled Content
• Natural, plentiful or renewable
• Resource efficient manufacturing process
• Locally available salvaged, refurbished, or remanufactured
• Reusable or recyclable
• Recycled or recyclable product packaging
• Durable

Another reason we’re passionate about what we do is our DEXterra product meets every single part of the above criteria. Its full of recycled glass, there’s lots of it available locally, we use very little energy in production and, best of all, it’s going to last you a lifetime! Stay tuned for future topics, such as:

• Concrete design
• Waste reduction with LEAN manufacturing
• Community involvement and pet rescue
• Material comparisons