After a happy hour with friends at her home a
few years ago, Deby Cowdin woke up to find numerous wine bottles on her porch. 
 
"I can't leave these out here," she said to a friend. "But I can't throw them away."
 
"You're an artist," her friend replied jokingly. "Why don't you figure out something to do with them?"
 
A light bulb went off in Cowdin's head. From that off-handed comment sprang From the Blue Bag, Cowdin's three-year-old company that reheats wine bottles she picks up from local restaurants and fashions into food trays and other items. Since its founding, her company has diverted 10 tons of glass from landfills.
 
Cowdin's passion for an environmentally friendly business was attractive to the Civic Innovation Lab, which recently awarded Cowdin $30,000. The funding allowed them to move into a new building in Cleveland at the corner of West 114th and Berea Road. Cowdin and her husband had operated From the Blue Bag out of their home. With a bigger space, they are able to double their production capacity, now with the ability to have seven energy-efficient kilns operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Cowdin also received a $22,000 low interest loan and $3,000 grant from the City of Cleveland.
 
"Deby is our definition of a social entrepreneur," says Jennifer Thomas, director of the Lab. "She identified the problem of glass waste, and came up with a creative solution that has a revenue stream attached to it.  We look forward to supporting her while the business grows."
 
To get her supplies, Cowdin gives big 55-gallon barrels to local restaurants for them to hold the bottles before her weekly pick-up. Restaurants who participate in the "recycling" program get free advertisements on her website showing their dedication to a cleaner environment.
 
With a background in retail, Cowdin looks for ways to improve her customers' experience, as well as reduce her company's carbon footprint. Take shipping costs, for example. Packaging costs are high to ship glass so Cowdin decided early on to reuse packing materials, thereby cutting costs for her customers and keeping those materials out of the landfill.
 
"Entrepreneurs can't be created - it's in your blood," Cowdin said. "It's a passion, a drive that you have. You can't be fulfilled as a person until you fulfill your passion." 
 
Her fierce entrepreneurial spirit has propelled From the Blue Bag's phenomenal growth over the past year, Cowdin said, an amazing feat considering the reach and severity of the recession. The move to the new building is just in time for the holiday rush. Cowdin's items currently sell in 23 states and 200 stores.
 
But Cowdin said it isn't luck. "People are still willing to buy a good quality American-made product for a good price." 
 
Cowdin said her goals for the company are to continue to give back and "put Cleveland on the map."
 
"I'm proud to bring the money back here," she said.
 
 Visit fromthebluebag.com for more information.