Thursday, April 15, 2010

Be Thrifty & Creative: Recycle Glass


Some of my recycled containers


Before throwing out that marinara jar, peanut butter jar, honey jar, jelly jar, olive oil bottle, syrup bottle or anything else that's glass, think of a way you can reuse it.

I love glass containers. Is that weird? Probably, but I don’t care. I feel guilty when I throw away something in a glass bottle or jar. There has got to be something I can use this magnificent thing for. Ok, I’m not that in love with glass, but I do often wonder how I can reuse them.


Okay, so they are not that glorious in this stage but wait, you can transform them...


Some ideas you can use these containers for:
  • Canning fruits or veggies (with new lids)
  • Soaking or sprouting seeds, nuts, or grains
  • Storing honey, sugar, or other types of food you may buy in bulk
  • Display colored pencils, pens, markers, crayons
  • Store or display office supply stuff like paperclips, rubber bands, erasers
  • Candy jars
  • Penny jars for change you always find (can be used as a family change jar and when full, go on a date together)
  • Reuse the vase that held those beautiful flowers sent to you in the mail as a vase (brilliant I know), but you can also use it for other things too. I use my glass vases for watering my celery stalks (to keep the celery crisp) and I also use them for holding my rubber spatulas.


Here is my process:

Today I was on my way to tossing a glass bottle that once contained soy sauce. It had such a fun shape. Then wait, the thought came to me, “Why not re-use this bottle for salad dressing, or syrup or honey or something that flows?”


So I took off the label…ugh, not so fun. I did learn though that if you use cold water (not hot as it will make the glue a mess) and vinegar, the glue does come off with a little elbow grease (effort). So now I have this beautiful clear glass jar to use.


Turn your empty containers into something fun and useful!


Happy Recycling!

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