The merits of beer have been heralded from the plays of Shakespeare to the roofs of frat houses. Almost all of us have sipped a cold one at least once (or several thousand) times in our lives. Have you ever given a thought, however, to that bottle in your hands? In a time when we're becoming more clever in creating dual-purpose functions from the most obscure of items, the beer bottle has found a new afterlife: assisting in the creation of hot water.

Sure, this probably isn't very new. With the right materials to capture heat, almost anyone can create their own hot water. This is the first time, however, that I've seen a beer bottle solar collector used so effectively. If necessity in the mother of invention, then Ma Yanjun from China's Shaanxi province is proof that a little motherly love can push you in the right direction. Yanjun came up with the idea of stringing together a collection of green beer bottles to heat water after his Mother became less than comfortable with their previous setup. From the article,

Ma's invention features 66 beer bottles attached to a board. The bottles are connected to each other so that water flows through them. Sunlight heats the water as is passes slowly through the bottles before flowing into the bathroom as hot water, reports China Economy Network. Ma says it provides enough hot water for all three members of his family to have a shower every day.

Amusingly, more than 10 other families have become inspired by Ma's invention and built their own hot water solar collectors from bottles. Not only is the end result a beautiful case study in sustainability, but simply getting those bottles empty in the first place is reason to try this for yourself. Cheers!

Editor's note: Thanks to reader Bobby B. for the "heads up" on this story…