From trash to treasure: Lit MKE turns bottles and cans into functional art
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- If you're at a makers market in Milwaukee, you're likely to run into Mike Bate, transforming what could be trash, into treasure.
"My main passion is recycling and the environment, and sustainability and repurposing," Bate said "I used to be a bartender, and I just hated seeing bottles continuously go into the trash. I worry about them winding up in the landfill or a river."
Eight years ago, while bartending on Brady Street, Bate had an idea to give empty bottles and cans new life, by turning them into candles.
"I just have a hard time seeing beautiful things go in the garbage, because somebody put their creativity into creating these labels."
While his wife was on tour as an opera singer in 2015, Bate ordered some wax and fragrance, and got to work.
"I never took a lesson or a class, I just did it. Just got busy on it, and nobody was around to call my crazy," Bate said. "I basically turned my 2-bedroom apartment into a mini recycling center."
Almost immediately, He decided his idea had a future.
"I think I can make these good enough where people would actually want to buy these," Bate said. "I gave them to my mom for Mother's Day, and my sister for her birthday."
With encouragement from family, Bate created Lit MKE. selling candles made from popular liquor bottles and beer cans.
"If there's a bottle that has a certain taste, you can almost match it with the smell. So, I actually just let the labels, the drinks, where the drink is made kind of guide my fragrance orders," Bate said.
Bate collects the bottles and cans through partnerships with Milwaukee bars and restaurants.
He also accepts donations from the public.
"It's local glass created into local art," Bate said. "Sometimes it's overwhelming how much I actually get, but it makes me work harder and faster."
He uses special tools to cut and sand the glass and aluminum and fills them with a soy-coconut wax blend.
"It's like a 7-step process from just a bottle or a can to what you see on the table," Bate said.
Since starting Lit MKE, Bate regularly sets up at festivals and markets.
He also sells his candles online and can make custom orders.
"If it's your anniversary champagne or your wedding wine or anything, that doesn't have to just stay empty and useless," Bate explained. "You can give it to me, and I can make it into a functional art piece, and you can actually ignite an emotion every time you light it."
If you finish your candle, he will refill it for tips, or a 6-pack of beer.
Lit MKE has turned Bate into a full-time re-purposer.
"I can guarantee that over 22 thousand pounds of glass and aluminum has come through my hands and into a functional art piece," Bate said. "It helps me deal with my anxiety about the planet, and where we're headed."
What started in a tiny apartment, is now a lifestyle dedicated to seeing positive change.
"It goes along with the name. You use one little idea, and then it lights a lot of things around your life," Bate said.
He hopes his business digs deeper than just a unique gift, by encouraging people to be mindful about the process.
"It gets me out and talking to people about recycling and gets them thinking about ways to repurpose and recycle," Bate said. If we can all just do a little bit by reducing our waste, or being more mindful about how we consume, I think it'll help us all."