WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-A creative spark

Burlington, Vermont - July 16, 2010

It's lunchtime at the Farmhouse Tap & Grill in downtown Burlington.

"No gimmicks here, just straight farm-to-table food," restaurateur Jed Davis said.

The 2-month old upscale pub breathed new life into a crumbling building that had been home to a McDonald's. It was just the first way the Farmhouse focused on reuse. The concept had the restaurant looking to its lighting, too.

"It's probably the most important design decision for a restaurant," Davis said.

The lights are made from 70-plus-year-old canning jars and insulators from old power poles. They're the designs of Conant Metal and Light in the city's South End.

"Putting U.S.-made items back into circulation is great," owner Steve Conant said.

Conant has made turning items from everyday life into the bases of lamps since he opened his business when he was fresh out of the University of Vermont in 1979.

"Putting something to use that maybe would have been considered useless," he said.

"I'm a firm believer that just about anything can be turned into a light," said Christy Mitchell, the lighting designer at Conant.

The bubbles and waves in the old glass catch the light and are catching on. Making everyday objects from basements or attics into design accents has become one of the hottest trends in home decor.

"I feel like Vermont is right on the pulse of what we should be doing that's sustainable," Mitchell said.

Conant needs more jars to feed customers' appetites for the lights... So many, he's trading store discounts and making donations to the Vermont Foodbank for people who bring in old screw-top jars.

His goal is two-fold: reducing waste by not relying on brand-new factory manufacturing and creating a sense of nostalgia.

"People are finding that attractive," he said. "I think because these items represent our roots, truly."

To Conant Metal and Light and clients like the Farmhouse Tap & Grill, repurposing forgotten pieces of American life also represents an ethic embodied by the "Made in Vermont" label: sustainable responsibility to the planet.

"I think it looks great!" Mitchell beamed.

Those repurposed jar lights sell for around $180 at the showroom on Pine Street. Click here for more information.

Jack Thurston - WCAX News