Oakland artist picks up pieces from break-ins, finds success in reusing glass

By Anne Makovec

While recent data and reports show how car break-ins in the Bay Area are down, they still occur, and it’s the last thing you want to see as you head to the car.

But for Oakland’s Sydney Jones, she’s ready to pick up the pieces.

When she hears about a shattered car window, she puts on her gloves, grabs a broom and a collection box and heads to the reported location. She said she then uses the dustpan to collect the broken glass from the “bipped” car.

“Oftentimes, it will just end up in landfill. So, I wanted to start diverting these beautiful gems into something beautiful and wearable,” explained Jones.

Jones scoops up every bit of broken safety glass and puts it in a box.

Back at her studio, she cleans and sorts the street debris into tiny bits and arranges them on a filter. She turns on her kiln and places the pieces inside.

After a while, the high temperature turns the blunt safety glass into molten glassy spheres, which she turns into elegant earrings.

Jones calls them her “Street Revival Collection,” and they’re a smash hit.

“I was actually overwhelmed by the community response to the reuse of glass. I never would have thought it would be reclaimed glass that people would get excited about,” she told CBS News Bay Area.

Jones is the owner of the Odd Commodity Shop in Oakland. In addition to the earrings, she sells vases, small knick-knack containers, candle holders, candles, and more. Every single piece is made with reused or rescued glass. She owns a glass cutter that’s getting a lot of use.

Only about a third of glass ever gets recycled, according to the EPA. Each year, millions of tons end up in landfills.

“I was really shocked to hear about how much glass actually ends up in landfill, and as you know, glass does not decompose fast at all,” Jones said.

Jones sells her wares online but also at farmers’ markets around the Bay Area.

At the Jack London Square market, Chris Minick is a repeat customer. He loves her candles and came on this day to pick up the latest fragrance. He appreciates her attention to sustainability.

“It makes it feel great to support a business like that because not only are you supporting the business, you’re supporting the environment as well,” said Minick.

Jones now offers a candle-making workshop at the Alta Vina Wine Bar near Jack London Square. The wine bar provides the used bottles, and Jones provides the eco-friendly supplies. Her friend Paula Choi and her fiancé attended.  Choi made a candle scented with oak, moss and amber. Her fiancé chose rosemary and eucalyptus.

“She uses natural ingredients and the scents that she gets are really clean,” Choi explained.

Jones is proud to be from Oakland. She understands Oakland has the reputation of too many break-ins and crimes but pointed out how crime is going down, and that her hometown is resilient.

“There are so many creative artists out here doing amazing things,” she said.

Jones learned about sustainability from her great-grandmother, who reused Kleenex boxes. She also said that Oakland is packed with artists who care about their craft and do right by Oakland. She hopes others will be inspired by her creative, beautiful way to repurpose glass and not throw it into the landfill.

“I hope it inspires folks to think about what they consume and what they can reuse,” Jones said.