Recycling Empty Wine Bottles Helps Save the Environment

I am probably one of the most avid recyclers on the planet.

That is, if I can find a use for something that would normally end up in the landfill, I use it.

You can check my bio - I live in Virginia Beach, where Mount Trashmore is the destination of folks looking for a leisurely outdoor spot to picnic, jog or just enjoy the great outdoors.

Mount Trashmore, constructed in 1970, used to be a garbage heap, made of accumulated debris trucked in from households around the Eastern seaboard. Today, it's a 24,000 square foot state park - the first park of its kind on the East Coast.

Before a fire destroyed it, a skate park located on Mount Trashmore even hosted famous skateboarders like Tony Hawk and the infamous Mark "Gator"Rogowski, who was sentenced to a 40-year jail term for the murder of his girlfriend.

Anyway, over the years I've learned that recycling not only helps the environment, but that can save a boo-coo of money on items I need at home, anyway.

Granted, there are some recycling ideas that are too "over the top" for me, but I appreciate everyone's efforts in conservation. Yet, there are many ideas that just make perfect sense, like recycling those empty wine bottles.

My friend Rita got me interested in recycling empty wine bottles.

A potter, Rita has a kiln, into which she places empty wine bottles and "slumps" them - flattens them out - and they become wonderful little cheese trays.

Another acquaintance drills a hole near the bottom of the empty bottle and, by cutting the plug off a short strand of miniature white lights, inserting the lights in the bottle and then reattaching the plug, makes neat little mood lights.

When I visited the Carlo Rossi web site, I was very impressed with the furniture and household accessories that can be made from empty wine jugs!

I guess that some of the Carlo Rossi creations were what I had in mind when I mentioned that some of the recycling efforts are a little "over the top" for me, but you have to give credit where credit is due!

My most recent wine bottle recycling idea came from Home and Garden Television, where I learned how to recycle a wine bottle into a great little soap dispenser.

Those who are familiar with HGTV's program, Creative Juice, may recognize these directions, as posted by Cathie Filian and Steve Piacenza, the program's co-hosts:

Re-craft your way to a green kitchen by recycling a wine bottle into a soap dispenser that looks great on the counter top and is so easy to create that you will want to make one for all your friends. We made ours with the word "soap," but you could customize this with a family name or a monogram.

Supplies Needed

Recycled soap-dispenser materials: wine bottle, rubbing alcohol, liquor pour spout, pearl white and blue polymer clay, letter stamps, blue fine-tip permanent marker, Quick-Hold craft glue, drinking glass or other circle-template, organic dish soap and an oven.

Directions

Begin by thoroughly washing the wine bottle (soak the bottle in water to remove the label). Use rubbing alcohol and a paper towel to remove any excess glue or gum.

Next, roll out a thin (1/8- to 1/4-inch) layer of pearl polymer clay. Cut out a 4-inch clay circle with the mouth of a glass as a template or circle template. Stamp the clay to read S-O-A-P, using the letter stamps. Make sure you are working with clean rubber stamps.

Roll small balls of blue clay and flatten them out to make "bubbles." Apply bubbles to the pearl clay circle.

Press the clay label onto the wine bottle. Place the bottle with the clay label in a cold oven and bake according to the clay instructions. Turn off the oven and let the clay cool.

Finish by gluing the label in place with craft glue and let the glue set for 15 minutes. Trace S-O-A-P with a fine-tip blue permanent marker. Fill the bottle with dish soap and place the pour spout in the opening of the bottle.

How neat is that?