We’ve had an email from John B:

I was recently bought some beer which came in stone/clay bottles. Having now drunk all the beer I am looking for something to do with the bottles. I wanted to reuse them for home brew but I am unable to get the corks back in as my corking machine only works with wine bottles.

The only thing I can think of is to break them up for crocks in plant pots but this seems like a waste of all their bottliness. Any suggestions?

We’ve had an email from [Am]:

My partner and I have been wracking our brains trying to find a use for the plastic dental floss packaging. The part that holds the floss and has a little blade at the top.

I’ve looked for company websites to see if they can be returned and used to no avail!

I’ve just popped our pack open to see what the deal is with them – it flipped open really easily but I have forced it in the past during a previous curious moment. Because it flipped open easily and inside is just a spool, I guess you could refill the spool and use it for other things – but aside from cotton, I can’t think of anything else that would work. And I suspect it would be more hassle to refill the spool with cotton rather than just using it of the reel itself.

Has anyone else go any other suggestions for refilling the spool? Or other uses for the packaging?

(Photo by carlohh)

We’ve had an email from Aleta asking for ideas on how to reuse or recycle plastic prescription tablet and vitamin bottles/containers.

They’re usually so sturdy – and usually childproof – that ways to reuse them would be best but can they be recycled? I can’t see a number on the bottom of any of few we have lying around here – does anyone know what type of plastic they are?

Also, does anyone know if there are any schemes to reuse bottles as medicine/prescription bottles again (after sterilising or whatever)?

(Photo by Carin)

We’ve covered on VHS cassettes before but now Suzy has emailed asking about their now redundant solid cases:

I have some old vhs tape cases. The cases are made of a plastic shell to hold the video that is glued to a cardboard outer layer with the artwork printed on it.

Is it possible to recycle this plastic? I don’t see any recycling symbols but I’d hate to just throw them away!

There must be thousands and thousands of these things kicked about as people dumped their old videos. So any suggestions for recycling or reusing them?

(Photo by Suzy – thanks Suzy!)

This isn’t a real post just an advert for those who are currently feeling slightly sick after eating too much chocolate this morning.

We covered excessive Easter egg packaging last year but are still keen to hear your ideas and suggestions.

The cardboard can usually be recycled and the foil reused in a number of crafty ways but what about the plastic?