We're back for Week Three in our 10-part series intended to help get rid of junk in new and creative ways. This week's focus is on wine bottles and corks. Many bottles you have saved over the years probably have sentimental value, but there are definitely ways to keep those memories and lose the dusting responsibilities.

The people in my house drink a lot of wine. Five of us live there, and two are currently obsessed with Gary Vaynerchuk of the Wine Library. He has his own online television series about -- you guessed it -- wine. And my house now orders online from the Wine Library (winelibrary.com). Maybe I will convince my roommates to use some of these ideas.

Reduce

There are a lot of reasons to keep old, empty wine bottles. Maybe it was the first bottle you drank with your special someone. Maybe it was the bottle you got to celebrate that great promotion. And maybe you are one of those people who keeps every bottle of wine you like, simply to remember to get it again one day.

Whatever the reason, you no longer need to keep a stash of old bottles, I promise.

First, to make sure you save what's important, remove the labels.

You can do it the old-fashioned way -- soak the bottle in very hot water and a few drops of dish detergent for 10 to 20 minutes, then peel or scrape off . But there is some new technology you might be interested in, too.

I first discovered label removers at the Gourmet Pantry in Blacksburg, but you can order them online. You simply stick the remover onto the label and all the printing transfers onto it, leaving a layer of paper on the bottle.

Wine Appeal (wineappeal.com) has the label removers for sale ($6.95 for 10; $11.95 for 24; $43.15 for 100) and also has pretty good step-by-step instructions.

The obvious thing to do with a wine bottle when you don't want it any more is recycle it. Unfortunately, though, many municipalities in the Roanoke Valley (Roanoke County, Botetourt and Franklin counties) do not accept glass.

The city of Roanoke accepts clear glass, and Bedford County collects clear, green and brown glass. Most municipalities in the New River Valley accept at least those three colors of glass as well.

General recycling protocol is to rinse out the bottle and sort it, if required.

Roanoke and Blacksburg offer recycling pickups while Bedford, Christiansburg and Radford require residents to take recycling to a designated drop-off area.

I have always wondered about recycling broken glass. Most places say the glass is likely to break anyway, so as long as it doesn't look like it will cause harm to anyone, recycling broken glass is usually OK. However, Christiansburg's recycling Web site does request that glass not be broken or shattered.

Reuse

Now, what to do with those bottles if you can't recycle them?

One idea is to create messages in a bottle for friends and family. Write a letter, slip it into the bottle -- which is, of course, clean and dry -- and leave it somewhere they will find it. You can even put it in a partially filled sink or basin for some extra authenticity.

Thanks to a co-worker, I learned that the Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op collects blue glass bottles for local artisans. Give it away -- they'll make it pretty.

As for those corks, you can send them to Yemm & Hart (yemmhart.com). They make earth friendly products from all things cork. And if you have enough pure cork (10 pounds -- no plastic corks), they will even pay for it.

Remix

Decor: Bottle slumping has become very popular -- there's even a stall at the Roanoke City Market that sells slumped, or flattened, bottles. If you have a kiln or know someone who does, slumping a bottle is said to be fairly easy. Don't take my word for it, though; I've never done it. Once it's flat, you can hang it on your wall or use it for some other kind of decoration.

Pretty pourers: Store oils, vinegars or soap in decorative bottles. Pour spouts, if you want them, can be purchased at most kitchen supply stores including Bed, Bath and Beyond. Just be sure to label the bottles with the contents.

Cabinet silencers: Cut very thin slices of cork with a very sharp knife. Glue the slices to the inside of wooden cabinets. Then, when the door shuts, it won't slam.

Flower vases: One flower presented with minimal greens in an empty wine bottle can make someone's day a lot brighter.

Sangria: If you need a recipe, food writer Lindsey Nair offers some on her Aug. 6 blog. Find them at roanoke.com/fridgemagnet by searching for "sangria." Present it in an old bottle when you take it to a party or use as a housewarming gift. Again, make sure it's properly labeled.

Cork board: I've actually tackled this one. Get a large picture frame and a piece of thin, sturdy wood or cardboard that fits inside. Cut the cork pieces in half vertically (I used a craft-sized hacksaw) and glue them in. I found that a combination of wood glue (for a long-term hold) and hot glue (for an immediate bond) worked best.

If you want to start small, use the same method to make a hot pad or trivet for the kitchen. For the crafty, try a design. The corks look really neat when two are placed horizontally and the next two are placed vertically. Tip: Place all the corks in the frame before gluing them down -- just to make sure you like the way it looks.

Your turn

We received a lot of great feedback after last week's story about what to do with greeting cards and photos, and we even got a few more suggestions about what to do with old books. We'd love to hear your ideas or questions throughout the series. E-mail jennie.tal@roanoke.com or call 981-3269.

Books

Kate Pugh of Roanoke suggests donating books to a senior center or long-term care facility.

Greeting cards

Gerry Minter of Daleville creates beautiful placemats out of old cards. She cuts out the pictures and creates a collage on colored self-adhesive paper, such as Contac. After she's finished, Gerry covers the whole thing with clear self-adhesive paper.

Laurie Spangler of Blue Ridge, an avid environmentalist, reuses cards in at least three different ways. With her favorites, she creates scrapbooks that can be left on coffee tables for guests to flip through. Laurie has also created poster collages as holiday decorations. With others, she cuts out the sayings on the inside to use as gift tags.

The options

REDUCE: First things first -- everyone needs less. Get ideas on how to get rid of it, recycle it or store it away properly.

REUSE: One man's trash is another man's treasure, and most of your junk will be well-loved by someone else. Even though you're not wearing those size 2, barely worn designer blue jeans or reading Dr. Seuss anymore, some things just don't need to be thrown away willy-nilly.

REMIX: The idea here is to keep the memories but lose the junk. If there is any way to turn something you already have into something you need, not only will you be saving money and helping out Mother Earth, you may even get some compliments on your creativity.