Photo credit:
P.J. McAdie, flickr
Recently on Super Eco's flickr group, flickr user P.J. McAdie posted a lovely photo of glass jars while pondering potential green re-uses for them, and of course several group members mentioned the wonderful ways they are already re-using glass jars instead of just tossing them into the recycling bin. At Super Eco we've compiled those uses and added some of our own. (You'll want to first thoroughly clean your jars and soak them to remove any labels.)
Make it pretty
Rows of glass jars make beautiful windowsill art. Can't you picture your windowsill lined with jars filled with marbles, glass "jewels", seashells, pretty stones, or dried flowers from your garden? You can even vary your creations according to the season. And we invite you to photograph your new repurposed art and submit your photos to Super Eco's flickr group!
Make it useful
Jars seem to want to hold all sorts of things! Try these:
- seeds
- rice
- beans
- bulk loose tea
- pasta
- grains
- herbs
- spices
- coffee
- beads
- small toys
- buttons
- screws or nails
Get the idea? There's almost no limit.
Make it crafty
Kids adore small spaces in which to put small things. Why not dole out jars and non-toxic paints and let your kids decorate their own personal treasure jars? Or, a great crafty gift for any time would be all the makings for handmade bead jewelry, tucked into a jar: beads, findings, hemp cording, clasps.
Make it giftable
Save jars to refill with delicious homemade jams, preserves, or pickles and give away as gifts. Large jars filled with healthy soups make a great get-well gift, too. Make your own bath salts and fill jars for another gift idea (or to keep for yourself).
How do you reuse your jars?
How we can green our Summer
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excellent. nice to see our 'cross-pollination' at work. we are trying to encourage more discussion on the super eco flickr group around all the ideas and issues on this website. it is going to take a real concerted effort to save our planet.
the glass jars was one part of our new 'how-to' thread on the flickr group. we also encourage everyone to post ideas through words and photos of other ways to be more green. and we also encourage more questions too.
we're just getting going on this project. hope you can join us. saying it in photos is so much fun.
Funny! I'd posted a picture of my son's collections to the Flickr pool a while back :-)
In addition to the windowsill art ideas: bottles and jars look beautiful when filled with water and a couple of drops of food coloring. I had my mantle lined with them and put rope lights behind it. You could also put them on your windowsill.
I love using jars for food gifts... I did a bunch of them last Christmas and they were a BIG hit. I also like to use them for candles around the house.
Our family has found both common jar sizes to be the perfect for drinking glasses -- and if one gets broken, no need to worry about the expense!
we use glass jars for everything, including carrying our bulk food home from the store, storing leftovers, and making yogurt and kombucha, not to mention preserves. we get honey from a local beekeeper who puts his honey in mason jars: it's a great way to acquire them without paying extra :)
You can learn to make tiny folded stars out of strips of paper, a la Asian haute couture :P
Filling a jar with stars of different sizes and colours makes a cute gift or other decoration.