Ten-Green is a modular shelving system, constructed simply from local recyclables.
This prototype was built with the Coach House Trust in Glasgow, using bottles from their recycling center, and wood from the maintenance of their own sites. You can use any found timber, and adapt the dimensions to suit the wood you are working with. Some examples are for sale at our shop here (www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5250348).
The design featured in the online version of this Instructable is released under a share alike/attribution CC license by Zero-waste Design (www.zero-waste.co.uk).
1. Get your bits ‘n’ bobs
For one module you will need:
Bottles (4), preferably all the same brand/height/shape. Wash them thoroughly in hot soapy water.
Hook and eye strainers (2), sometimes called turnbuckles. I used the smallest I could find—14mm OD at the buckle, 5mm OD at the threads.
Planks of wood (2) with four holes drilled in each (Figure C). The diameter and location of the holes depend on the sizes of your planks and bottles. The holes should be large enough for the ends of the bottle necks to fit through, and the plank to rest partway down the necks. Don’t drill the holes too close to the edges of the planks.
Sturdy cup hooks (2 per shelf)—4mm diameter ones are best
Figure B: Shelf detail, with bottles and turnbuckles
Revision: I would now NOT drill the holes in the lower shelf all the way through, but drill them from below to half depth, using a flat bit. They will then rest on the tops of the bottles of the module below, rather than allowing the necks to pass straight through as was the case in this prototype.
Screw in the cup hooks halfway between the holes on either side, as shown. Depending on the height of your bottles, you may need some “S” hooks to help the strainer reach between the upper and lower hooks.
2. Place the bottles and top shelf
Place the bottles concentrically over the holes of the lower shelf. Then carefully lower on top the upper shelf, allowing the necks of the bottles to pass through the 46mm holes in the upper shelf. Allow the shelf to rest on the necks of the bottles. Then adjust the bottoms of the bottles so that they sit flush with the lower shelf.
3. Tense up!
Attach the hook and eye strainers and “S” hooks (if needed) between the opposing hooks. Tighten up thoroughly.
4. Assemble into a larger unit
Make as many modules as you need of whatever sizes you require. As long as the bottles are of the same height, and your holes are drilled precisely, you can stack the modules on top of each other.
5. Experiment!
Other Ten-Green-type furniture I have worked on since: a kitchen shelving unit, that is more of a kit really, and two coffee tables that were made to commission/to suit specific bits of wood!
The tables are just the same as the shelving modules but flipped upside down, and without holes in the shelf at the base of the bottles (the table top).
For more information on this project, visit our website at www.zero-waste.co.uk.
I would be up for a trial of the new “Collaborate” feature of Instructables with someone on this project. Message me if you’re interested.
User Notes
Scott made a stepped version
Ronnie Hinton made some without cutting the holes all the way through
Figure C: Materials—simple!
Figure D: Placing bottles on lower shelf
Figure E: Resting upper shelf on bottle necks
Figure F: Tensioning the turnbuckles to stabilize the shelves
Figure G: Multiple shelf modules—they’re stackable!
Figure H: Experiment! Make a coffee table.
Figure I: Which are the “real” shelf supports?
Figure J: Make a tri-leg table!
Roy Mohan Shearer is a self-titled “post-industrial” designer based in Glasgow, UK. He started Zerowaste Design in 2005 to experiment with and practice sustainable, appropriate, and open design. When he is not making something he is likely to be found playing the drums.