Keeping it Glassy
What do artichoke hearts, molasses, salsa, peanut butter, bouillon, pasta sauce, chopped garlic, and pure dark cherry juice have in common? These are items we buy that come in glass jars of various sizes, all with well-fitting lids. Instead of wasting money on various containers sold in stores as ‘storage containers’ we have saved a ton by repurposing and upcycling these old glass jars.
As a matter of fact, I am currently sipping iced green suntea – brewed in a large, upcycled GT’s Kombucha bottle using the heat and energy from the sun, and I am sipping it out of a Laura Scudder’s peanut butter jar, and sipping water out of a cherry juice jar, with an avocado pit growing in an old Grandma’s Molasses jar (No brand affiliates at this point, just fans of the products and the jars they come in).
While many folks are fortunate to live in an area that offers curbside recycling, not all those recycling programs will accept glass, if there’s a program in place at all. The original Earthly Abundance homestead in southern Oregon is a good example of that. We didn’t like the idea of just tossing these perfectly good jars and lids into the garbage, nor did we like the idea of wasting gas and driving 20 minutes or more each way to the nearest dump, so we started to find more new uses for them here and there. One of the excuses I’ve heard when I ask someone why they’re not reusing old jars like a peanut butter jar is that it’s such a pain to clean, and let me assure you, it’s no different than cleaning a regular drinking glass, and there are tips and tricks to make it even easier.
The peanut butter jar… fill the jar about 1/3 with water and a few drops of dish soap, securing the lid snugly. Shake it up a bit and place either in sunshine or somewhere warm. When the jar and water is warmed up, shake it and shake it again, and it loosens all the peanut butter and minimal scrubbing is needed and no extra mess. This is another great use for those used coffee filters I mentioned over in this post for ideas on reusing coffee grounds.
We’d love to hear about how you reuse glass jars so please feel free to share in the comment section and share your ideas to help inspire others. Here are a few more ways we’re reusing glass jars.
Herbal-infused oils, such as calendula petals in sunflower oil with a piece of carnelian for a skin-nourishing, mood elevating pick me up in mind, body, and soul.
Storing bulk spices, dried beans, dehydrated veggie soup mix, rice, home grown dried herbs, and other dry goods.
Keeping track of exactly how much water we’re drinking every day.
Containers for smudge wands, feathers, agates, and other spiritual tools we’ve gathered.
Storing leftovers or making a portable salad in a jar.
Growing our own bean sprouts using mungbeans we buy from the bulk section at the grocery store.
Holding small pots of seedlings we’ve started.
Drinking glasses.
Candle holders (La Victoria green taco sauce in a jar is a great taper candle holder)
Storing homemade skin salve and various body scrubs – also great for gifting these items!
Propagating plants – Avocado pits, rosemary clippings, re-growing green onions.
Loose change and quarters for doing laundry.
Crystals and stones that can not have any water or moisture, like chalcanthite or raw bumble bee jasper.
Making gnat traps.
A strand of tiny Christmas lights into a jar or an old wine bottle (especially a green or blue one) makes a lovely source of gentle light ambiance in a guest room, bathroom, table centerpiece, and beyond.
Cheers, beautiful friends, to all those exploring better ways to reuse, repurpose, upcycle, choosing to take better care of earth. Thank you for what you’re doing, for the benefit of all creatures that call this planet home.