If it's the difference between a 10-cent return on a bottle or a cool new glass, it might be worthwhile to hang on to those empties.

A local entrepreneur is working on a contraption that will make it easy to cut glass bottles, leaving behind a perfect drinking glass (or a lampshade-like figure, depending on which end you keep).

Patrick Lehoux has always been a businessman, but has never created a “physical product” before. When he learned he could do it, with help from others on kickstarter.com, he took the opportunity.

A total of 1,087 people worldwide “backed” his project, offering financial support of $80,946 — well exceeding his $75,000 goal. The “crowd funding” website has allowed him to not only test the market, but it has allowed him to send the first run of 2,000 bottle cutters, also known as 'Kinkajou' to manufacturing.

“Named after the small South American mammal with big teeth the Kinkajou is a bottle cutter with a new twist,” Lehoux wrote on his website.

“The cutters currently available on the market are big and bulky and not very interesting to look at. My design was meant to be simple to operate, easy to store and more aesthetically pleasing; something you wouldn’t mind keeping in your kitchen.”

While the opportunity to fund the invention has passed, pre-orders are being accepted. Visit www.thekinkajou.com for more information.

Posted by Arron Pickard