Sunday makeovers: All tied up in twisty ties

Every Sunday, help me turn fugly old stuff into stylish green stuff. Or at least try to.

So Ari Derfel and Dave Chameides save ALL their trash -- but I pick and choose what I save. The idea's that I'll reuse the stuff, but finding reuses sometimes gets so difficult that I wonder why I started collecting the stuff in the first place. At that point though, the stash is generally so big that I can't just give up and throw it out --

The "stuff" in question today: Twisty ties. I can't get away from these damn things! Most of them come from bags of bread, but I even collect some from the farmers' market, where big twisty ties are used to hold large bunches of carrots and and other veggies together.

I know some supermarkets sell this stuff -- and that some people even BUY them -- which is why I thought saving them might come in handy. I also had a little empty slot in my utensil tray -- fairly made with bamboo! -- just waiting to be filled up, and thus twisty ties and rubber bands started collecting there.

The rubber bands, although numerous, are more manageable. At the moment I'm planning to wrap them into a big ball to give away on Freecycle; I'm pretty sure someone could use them. But these twisty ties are another issue. I've used all the ones I can. All my long cords are twisty-tied into neat, unobtrusive bundles, for ex.

What can I do with these old twisty ties? Give me your best creative ideas.

Photo by Siel

Comments

[Robert 'Groby' Blum]

Well, our cats absolutely digg them - but I've got more than enough, thank you :)

Maybe some of your friends with cats?

[m]

-Take them back and use them at the places you originally got them (esp for places like whole foods - sometimes i try to buy stuff in bulk and can't find a pen or anything to write the codes, so it is nice when i already have the codes written on them)
-Keeping unruly plastic bags tied into super small balls. This also works for other things that have a tendency to come unwound easily like twinel.
-For some craft type things in place of pipe cleaners (my mom's christmas present was a little needle felted frog built on of a bread-tie skeleton)
-Containing rubber bands

[Dan]

That's easy. Use them for bundling all the loose wires around the house: power cables, computer cables, headphone cables, cables behind the TV.

[Siel]

Hey m -- I already reuse the twisty ties for the bulk stuff.... I also don't have unruly plastic bags in the house, thanks to my reusable bags habit :) Nor do I have twinel.... and I don't have any craft issues involving pipe cleaners. I actually don't understand the "containing rubber bands" idea - Don't rubber band balls kinda contain themselves? :P

Dan -- You didn't actually read my post. I wrote: "I've used all the ones I can. All my long cords are twisty-tied into neat, unobtrusive bundles, for ex."

Groby -- I'll look into the friends' cats option :)

[m]

I usually keep at least one plastic bag in my purse -- that way I can easily give it to someone else if needed, carry around something like a wet umbrella or wrap up my small purse electronics in case of rain or to pick up recycling. I try not to seek out plastic bags, but they appear. I also have a few of these bags in my emergency kit.
Sorry about the twinel -- I meant twine. String, twine and the like can be contained by wrapping the twist tie through the middle of the role and then perpendicular to the string like thing. I don't make rubber band balls because I usually end up with super huge or itty bitty rubber bands. Instead I string all of the rubber bands onto the twist tie (the rubber bands are like over-sized beads on a bracelet) and twist it shut. It makes it easier for me to see what I have and pull it off.

I seem to find tons of uses for twist ties around my apartment, but frequently when I am presented with issues and suddenly realize I already have a small piece of wire cut. My pet's water bottle is attached to the cage with twist ties. My dried lavender and wreath are hanging thanks to twist ties. My bamboo is tied together with twist ties. At times I have stripped off the plastic/paper covering so I could just use the wire. At work I keep them twisted onto a little basket and I end up finding uses for them, like when I made a small notebook of reused white paper. I punched holes in it a stack of trimmed paper and held it together with the twist ties. I twisted one around my pen cap for a while to identify my pens.

[Dan]

Ok, ya got me there. I looked for wires and cords in the post, but must've missed it. Anyway, try them around the garden for tying up vines or plants. My grandmother who grew up on a farm is always finding places to reuse things. I think she taught MacGuyver.