How can I reuse or recycle the nets you get around wine bottles?
Long time Recycle This friend (and very frequent commenter!) Anna has a question about the protective sleeves slipped around wine bottles:
Any ideas what to do with the plastic nets they put for wine bottles for protecting them when you buy one?
I don’t drink wine so I had to turn to my friend Google to see what those nets are like – some have big holes and look foamy, whereas others have smaller holes and look more like the thin plastic netting you get garlic bulbs in (a smaller version of orange/onion nets). I think the former are to provide some “bounce” protection while the latter just keep all the big bits of glass together in the event of a breakage. (Please correct me if I’m wrong about those assumptions.)
Either way, the first suggestion has to be reduce if you can: if they only add the netting at the shop after you’ve bought the wine, don’t let them: either take an old net to reuse or throw caution to the wind and just go nude ;)
As for reusing them for other things, the thinner/smaller holed nets can be filled with bird seed to make your own bird feeders, filled with the ends of old soap bars and hung on an outside tap for garden clean-up, or bunched up to make washing scrubbies.
I’d be tempted to throw a few of the foam type ones in with our reusable shopping bag stash for when we go to the supermarket for a big shop – they could cushion glass jars and other glass bottles to save them clinking together all the way home. Opened out flat, the foam ones would also be useful as cushioning under heavy plant pots (so they’re less likely to damage/dint the surface they’re stood on) or between occasionally use crockery to save that knocking together too.
How do you reuse or recycle those nets?
We use all our nets to put produce in when we buy it…Then you don’t take more plastic from the stpre when you get fruits and veggies…
Use it to patch halls on a net of a laundry bag.
Roll them and use as hair tie.
They can be use in art project for texture effects or stunning colour effects if u lay them on work and paint inside the holes with different colours. Tie the ends and make little hammocks for kids soft toys if you have the patients you can tie them together and make a bigger hammock to store kids soft toys hang it from a ceiling, or under raised beds. There are multi uses when made bigger.
Take them back to the liquor store and have them put your new bottles in them – re use them. I stopped by my local favorite shop and they ran out of those buggers. I wish I had brought the ones I saved up at home!
Give them to someone who knits or crochet. I’ve seen them used to put over balls or skeins of yarn as protectors.
I would be interested in taking some of them to try out for a project I am looking into.
I live in Birmingham…any chance?
I just figured out that these are great for storing/keeping together pairs of my pointe shoes, ballet flats, or sandals!
I have strung them across our tv tower for my clematis to climb.
Hello,Real corks are very handy for lighting fires. They are almost like Eco-firelighters. They work best if dried for a few weeks before use. We toss them in the log basket and collect bags from the in-laws. (Don’t use plastic corks for this though!)