Yellowknife (Dec 01/04) - Yellowknife Glass Recyclers is celebrating a decade of existence, but the shop's owner says if the public doesn't start buying more of its product he may have to close up shop.

Matthew Grogono is a businessman, an entrepreneur and a bit of a visionary.

Grogono takes recycled glassware and turns it into works of art.

For Grogono, it largely comes down to five steps: "rethink, reduce, reuse, recycle and rethink again."

"(Business is) very challenging. Over the last 10 years I've been investing personal funds to find ways of applying glassware," said Grogono.

The recycler/artist/entrepreneur feels the best way to carry forward his glass work is to form a co-operative.

"The organization structure needs to be reformed. The co-op is the most dynamic way to go," he said.

There are inukshuk's sandblasted onto various types of bottles and other artworks typifying life in the North fashioned within Grogono's workshop.

Located in Old Town, Yellowknife Glass Recyclers and Northern Lights Glassware is hidden away in an old cabin with a yellow door abutting the large outcrop where Pilot's Monument stands. At one point in time the cabin was used as quarters for women working at the Hudson Bay store, says Grogono.

The company has grown slowly, Grogono admits, but that's mostly because he's been distracted by other projects, including working with the Aurora Arts Society, the Recording Arts Association and Caribou Carnival.

Grogono generally discourages a wholesale drop off of bottles. He's generally looking for rare glass colours and shapes, like blue and ice wine bottles.

"Last week a lady brought in some Seagull Pewter that was made in Canada."

"It was a chipped vase, which I refurbished and put some fireweed on and sold back to the original person. She was absolutely thrilled," said Grogono.

While sandblasting is one of Grogono's favourite techniques, "In the long run the intention is to get enough funds together to branch into hot glass," he said.

Some of Grogono's work includes making glass diamonds as well as glass trophies.

"One of the most popular piece would be bowls. I sold around 70 of them to a national nurses conference, that would have been back in 1997," he said.