Laura Cannillo
Fairleigh Dickinson University Silberman College of Business
Gerard Farias
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Glassworks is a studio where families, kids, parties, and even adults come to make beautiful works of art out of recycled glass.
With her sustainability mindset and love of art, Stacey Schlosser created Glassworks Studio. As we can see, Glassworks is successful and provides a viable source of income along with the ability to contribute to the well-being of others. One of the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development that Glassworks Studios is helping meet is Affordable and Clean Energy. Their for-profit business is using 100% Green Energy. In 2015, Glassworks was given the Sustainability Success Award from America’s Small Business Development Centers.
Stacey grew up as an activist for the environment and her involvement was recognized when she was appointed to the board for “Sustainable Morristown" in 2007. At this point she became even more involved and passionate about sustainability in her own community. She thought that it would be a good time to reduce her personal and professional footprint. Therefore, in 2007 Glassworks Studio and Stacey’s life underwent transformation towards sustainable practices.
Glassworks Studio is located in Morristown, New Jersey on South Street. It was founded in 2002 by Stacey Schlosser. The business is a venue where families, kids, parties, and even adults come to make beautiful works of art out of recycled glass. The creativity levels range from all ages, genders, ethnicities, and race. Glassworks provides instructions and support for all projects being done in the studio. Using different colors, shapes, and pictures to make a mosaic look like a masterpiece, these artists get to watch their work transform. How it works is the glass is cold and then gets glued together to be put in a kiln.
The sustainable glass studio was started in 2002 and it was the only walk-in glass fusion studio in the country. However, Glassworks has started a trend because other places have opened up since then. Glassworks is still the industry leader because it offers the most options for creating art and it has the best recycled glass around. They currently have about ten employees who are loyal to the company as well as passionate about sustainability.
Stacey Schlosser is the owner and creator of Glassworks Studio and is an experienced artist and hobbyist with an expertise in glass art work. Stacey grew up as an activist for the environment and her involvement was recognized when she was appointed to the board for “Sustainable Morristown in 2007. At this point she became even more involved and passionate about sustainability in her own community. She thought that it would be a good time to reduce her personal and professional footprint. Therefore, in 2007 Glassworks Studio and Stacey’s life underwent transformation towards sustainable practices.
Stacey describes her lifestyle as “green” and sustainable. The steps she has taken have helped her reduce her carbon footprint. She believes the Earth is our home, so we should protect it. In her personal life, she decided to move closer to Glassworks so that she could walk to work every day rather than drive. This move was able to save her money while helping the environment. Also, when she moved, she decided to downsize in order to conserve energy. She conserves energy by having no air conditioning and limited lighting in her house. She also has a garden where she dumps excess compost food and does not use any pesticides or fertilizer due to potential harm to her health and the Earth. Another major step Stacey accomplished in her personal life to achieve sustainability was purchasing a hybrid car, which she only uses if she cannot walk to her destination. In the future, Stacey plans to keep improving her personal life to be 100% sustainable.
Glassworks is successful and provides a viable source of income along with the ability to contribute to the well-being of others. One of the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development Glassworks is participating in is Affordable and Clean Energy. Their for-profit business is using 100% Green Energy. Glassworks has created three waste stations for separating paper, plastic, glass, and actual trash. This has saved over 1,000 pounds of waste! Also, the glass projects that they do need to discard of get reused for future projects or party favors. Even kiln paper that they no longer use anymore is reused for firing small beads. To continue their efforts, Glassworks provides leadership that many cannot compare to any other company in the industry. As a reward of action, they offer a points program for anyone who walks to the studio or takes mass transit. They also train their staff to ensure “green” and sustainable efforts take place in the studio. The studio has gone 90% bag free. They do not provide bags for anyone to pick up items and if customers request for one, then they must pay for one out of pocket. To top it off, the studio is even painted with non-toxic, Earth-friendly paint!
Stacey and her team at Glassworks have future plans in place to continue making the company more sustainable. The next steps include changing all lighting in the studio to LED by 2017 to save more energy. Another goal that they are striving to achieve by 2017 is getting hand dryers by the sinks rather than paper towels.
Glassworks Studio attracts people of all ages to be creative. In 2015 Glassworks was given the Sustainability Success Award from America’s Small Business Development Centers. Stacey says “Sustainability is the focus of our customer reward program, our energy choices, our staffing and many smaller areas of business operations.”
Stacey continues to grow her business every year with new ideas on how to become more sustainable and wants everyone to get involved. She intends to advertise more that she is a sustainable company. This will not only help her business but will increase awareness. Although advertising space is hard to come by and is expensive, Glassworks hopes to create a domino effect with their sustainable efforts.
Glassworks Studio contributes to a great sense of community, allowing customers to express creativity through art and reducing physical waste. The business is using 100% Green Energy. They have saved over 1,000 pounds of waste and reuse many items that might usually be discarded. They encourage walking and the use of mass transit to get to the studio, and they train their staff in “green” and sustainable efforts. The studio has gone 90% bag free. The studio is even painted with non-toxic, Earth-friendly paint!
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Stacey Schlosser, Interview
