Unless the wine you drink comes out of a box, you empty a least a few bottles every month. And you probably drop those empty wine bottles into a recycling bin. That’s a responsible thing to do, though just 32.5% of glass bottles get that treatment in the U.S. Apparently, most people just throw them away.

Not only does recycling keep the bottles out of landfills where they last eons—about one million years in fact—it saves energy. Recycling just ten bottles saves enough energy to run a laptop computer for an hour. [The link is to an EPA Excel spreadsheet that calculates the energy value of recycling various materials.] And for every ton of glass recycled, 1.2 tons of raw materials are conserved.

Of course, recycling consumes energy too. Recycling an empty wine bottle requires two-thirds the energy it would take to make a new one. If we can re-purpose a few wine bottles here and there, we can save energy and reduce carbon emissions. We might be able to save a few dollars too. Here are thirteen ways you can re-use your empty wine bottles.

“Tiki” Torches
Add mood lighting to your outdoor parties, and shoo the insects away, by turning wine bottles into oil lamps with industrial chic. The photo below comes from Gerardot & Co. which also has complete instructions for the project. [If you like the blue bottles, you might drink some La Sirena Moscato d’Azul.]

Rolling Pin
The super smooth, non-stick surface of glass of an empty wine bottle is ideal for use as a rolling pin. It works especially well when chilled.

1. Remove the label from an empty Cabernet-style wine bottle by soaking it in water. Make sure to get all of the glue off too.
2. Wash the outside of the bottle thoroughly.
3. Fill the bottle with water.
4. Reseal the bottle with a cork.
5. Put the wine bottle in the refrigerator.

Now you have a smooth, heavy and cold rolling pin, just the thing for rolling out pastry dough. The bottle full of water will help keep the temperature inside your refrigerator stable, saving a little bit of electricity.

Candelabra
While taking a tour of Chateau Lafite Rothschild, I noticed they use wine bottles as candle holders everywhere. But the Chateau wasn’t doing it by shoving a candle into the neck of the bottle like some neighborhood spaghetti restaurant, though that’s charming in its own way. Things are more formal in Bordeaux. They used inserts to turn empty bottles into full-on candelabras.

You can find nice “wine bottle candelabra inserts” for $30 or less. Here are some examples.

Here’s a fancy one for two taper candles.

This one holds five tea light candles.

Tip: Make sure you fill the wine bottle with water, sand, marbles or something else heavy. If you don’t weigh it down, the bottle will be top heavy which is dangerous when flaming candles are involved. Using a Pinot Noir or Syrah bottle with a wide base will give you a more stable candelabra too.

Water Pitcher
This idea is pretty obvious, but charming nonetheless. A bottle takes up less room on the dinner table than a pitcher, looks nice and gives you a bit of bistro ambience.  I think colorless bottles look the nicest in this application, but blue is a pretty option too. Just clean a bottle thoroughly, remove the label if you like, and fill with fresh water.

Wine Storage
People spend a lot of money trying to preserve left over wine. You can use a vacuum pump, or spray a bunch of nitrogen into the bottle, before you seal it. Or you can insert one of those funny looking “wine condoms” into the bottle. They lay on top of the surface of the wine, theoretically reducing exposure to oxygen.

I don’t do any of that these days. Vacuums can pull delicate aromatics out of the wine, gas sprays aren’t cheap and those inserts are just weird. Instead, I pour leftover wine into small, clean wine bottles.

I keep a number of empty wine bottles on hand for this purpose. Half-bottles get the most use. Once you’ve drunk about half of your regular-size bottle of wine, pour the rest into a half bottle and seal it with a cork or whatever cheap or fancy stopper you prefer. Then, pop the bottle into the fridge. It’ll be good for at least a couple of days—even longer with some wines.

There will be very little oxygen in the bottle and very little surface area exposed to it. The cold refrigerator will also help keep the wine fresh and the half bottle won’t take up much room.  Take red wine out of the fridge about one-hour before you want to drink it. Whites are generally served colder so they take even less time to warm up, about 15 minutes.

I also keep a couple of empty 750ml bottles around to deal with the remaining wine from magnums. And, if you have a Piccolo, a 0.1875ml Champagne bottle, you’ll never have to abuse your liver finishing a bottle because “there’s not enough to save.”

If the wine ends up sitting in the fridge a little too long to be perfect for drinking, you can always use it as cooking wine. And if cooking is to be the wine’s sole use, you can even blend different wines in one bottle.

Vinegar and Oil
I used to make vinegar at home from leftover wine. It’s better tasting than most of the stuff you can buy in stores and it’s free from artificial additives. Empty wine bottles are a great way to store the vinegar once it’s done. If you don’t pasteurize the vinegar, make sure to seal it tightly and refrigerate it. Pasteurized vinegar is just fine kept in the cupboard.

On a similar note, some of my favorite high-quality olive oil comes in large metal containers. Those aren’t practical to use on a daily basis. I transfer it into 375ml wine bottles which are just the right size for easy pouring. They don’t take up much space in the cupboard or on the counter either. Olive oil doesn’t like sunlight, so green or brown bottles are the best ones to use.

Cutting Empty Wine Bottles Provides More Options

If you feel comfortable cutting a bottle, there are even more ways you can use them. Don’t just grab a hacksaw though. There is gear designed expressly for making safe, clean cuts on bottles. This one from Kinkajou seems to be among the best.

If you do cut bottles, be sure to use emery paper, or something similar, to sand down the sharp edges!

Drinking Glasses
Old Fashioned glass, tumbler or pint glass? Choose your volume and make your cut. If you want to make sure your glass holds just the right amount, use a measuring cup to fill the bottle with water, then make marks for your cut.

Candle Holders
Cut the bottle as you would for a drinking glass in order to create a haven for a fully exposed flame. (Use bottles that have flat bottoms.) Or just cut the bottom of of the bottle and place the top over your candle for a protected flame.

Kitchen Containers
Cut the empty wine bottles as you would for a drinking glass. Then buy cork stoppers that fit the opening, or forget the cork and fill the bottle with dry spaghetti.

Pendant Lights
If you’d like to go flame-free, cut the bottom off of bottles and insert lamp fixtures from local hardware or electrical supply store. Hang the lights individually, or group them for a more interesting, and brighter, fixture.

Bookshelf Spacers
Make a bookshelf of wood planks look cool by using empty wine bottles to separate and stabilize the ends of the boards. If you’re in an earthquake zone, I recommend cutting the bottom off the bottles and running thick, threaded rods up the full length of the bookcase at each corner, passing through the neck of each bottle. You can use nuts to secure the shelves to the rods.

Text copyright Fred Swan 2017. All rights reserved.