A splashback is one of the most helpful items you can install in a kitchen. These smooth surfaces keep splashes and splatters off the wall paint and allow you to clean those same messes up quickly. Splashbacks also make the wall behind the stove or sink — an often plain and neglected area — look beautiful. Splashbacks come in several materials, from porcelain tile and plastic to metal. Glass tiles and sheets are also available, and if you want a splashback that is easy to clean, glass often wins. There's one more advantage to installing a glass splashback: it's among the most eco-friendly materials you can use.

Recycled and Recyclable

Glass splashbacks can be part or all recycled glass. That means what you buy has not required the use of a lot of new resources (or any new resources, for glass that's 100 percent recycled content). The glass you get is also recyclable itself, meaning that any scraps from being cut at installation to pieces removed due to damage to the entire splashback when you decide to remodel again can simply be reused. The glass may have to go through processing, of course, to break it down and form new shapes, but you don't have to worry about these slabs of old glass being thrown away.

Long-Lasting — Very Long-Lasting

As long as the glass isn't damaged, the splashback will last a very long time. Properly made, heat-resistant splashbacks won't melt or crack from the heat typically produced by a stove or oven. As it's glass, it can sustain damage if you hit it. However, with the splashback being on a wall at the back of a counter, it would take a lot of effort (or bad luck) to manage to break the glass. With no damage and proper cleaning, you can keep that splashback for years.

Renewable Resources

Even if the splashback you get is 100 percent new glass with no recycled materials in it, you know the material used to make the glass is renewable. The ingredients that go into glass — sand, soda ash and so on — are easy to find and not in danger of running out. And if you're worried about using sand because of reports about the erosion of beaches and so on, glassmakers don't use random beach sand for their work.

When it's time to choose the splashback, you can look at premade patterns or see about customising your own. The end product will beautify your kitchen and make cleaning up after cooking a breeze.

For more information on glass splashbacks, contact a company near you.