A Christmas tree is adorned with decorative glass that is made of glass that was made by an industrial-sized glass company.
It is the kind of thing you see on Christmas windows in the U.S. but it is not in Canada.
The window decorations, which are made from recycled glass, were brought to Toronto by a couple who bought one of the window decorations at a local store for $1.49.
(CBC News)”We didn’t really know what it was.
It was a little bit weird looking, but it was beautiful,” said Christine Smith, who was shopping for Christmas decorations for her son, Adam, 12.
She says she was excited to have something that she could buy for her family.
The family’s other son, Nathan, 11, was also shopping for decorations.
“He bought the other one for his brother,” said Smith.
“We went online and it was on sale for $2.”
Adam’s father, David Smith, says the glass was the kind that was found in the recycling bins.
He says he’s seen the glass in the bins before.
“I can see why people might not buy it,” said David Smith.
“(The glass) could be a little more expensive because it’s not that high quality, but that’s the kind we’re talking about.”
The glass has been made in Canada since at least 2006.
But the couple says it wasn’t until they saw it at a Toronto department store, and then online, that they decided to make the purchase.
“It was like, oh my gosh, I want to do this, I need this,” said Sarah Smith.
She was also excited to see it online, and when she saw it in person, she bought it.
“I think it was something we would have never imagined that would happen,” said Michelle Smith.
A lot of these glass decorations are actually recycled, but in the past, it was a lot more difficult to recycle.
The recycling industry says that is no longer the case.
“The recycling industry is working hard to make recycling as accessible as possible, so that more people will be able to recycle their glass,” said Chris LeBlanc, spokesperson for the recycling industry group B.C. Green Recycling.
The group says that glass has a low carbon footprint, and can be recycled at the same rate as wood.
The glass is recyclable in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick, but not in B.A. Smith says the family is currently looking to purchase more glass, so they can make more decorations for their home.