How Your Old Beer Bottles Will Solve Montreal's Pothole Problem

Every week starts and ends the same way. Your recycling bin is completely barren, then after a couple trips to the dep/SAQ, and a few drunken evenings, the old blue bin is filled to the brim, so you take all of your empty bottles to the curb. And repeat.

By no means are we commenting on your functional alcoholism (we're right there with you), nor are we congratulating your regular recycling habits. Rather, we're alluding to the notion of doing something a little more productive with your drinking habits, and the empty glass bottles that are a result.

Like fixing Montreal's pothole-riddled roads, perhaps? Granted, drinking a bunch of beer/liquor doesn't seem like the best method of repairing roadways, but thanks to a new pilot project, that may be the case.

Joining forces with the City of Montreal, the SAQ, and Transports Québec, a team of ÉTS engineers have developed a way to fuse recycled glass with asphalt to create a stronger material to build roads.

The strengthened asphalt is described to be better equipped to deal with "Montreal’s harsh weather conditions, road salt and heavy traffic," according to Global, who were on-site at the press conference held for the new pilot project.

Set to last three years and cost $450,000, the pilot project will be implemented on Montreal roads if the glass-phalt (my abbreviation for the new substance, feel free to use) proves to be a success.

So instead of exchanging your empty beer bottles to get back a total of thirty cents, put 'em on the curb, knowing that you'll be contributing to a worthwhile project that aims to fix one of the city's most prevalent problems.