We all live when we live, we can't go back or forward, we are living our lives right now, and dealing with whatever comes our way. It used to be a common marketing tool for companies to package their goods in re-usable containers. This was an enticement for the thrifty housewife to choose one product over another. Instead of single use packaging, if you bought coffee in a mason jar that could be used for canning - you were in fact going to save money. Another great example of this was the flour sack made from beautiful calico that could be used for sewing projects for the household.
Vintage coffee jars, made specifically for re-use.
More vintage jars - meat, condiment, and shortening containers.Most of these older jars take a regular mouth canning lid and can be used for dry storage/decoration and canning too. Mayonnaise used to be sold in actual mason jars that were made for re-use. That is where the advice to can in mayonnaise jars comes from. Sadly, that is no longer the case. Some of those jars are still around, but haven't really been marketed that way since 1950 - since the companies realized they could squeeze out more profit by going to a lower grade (thinner) glass for their jars.
Will manufacturers go back to this? Probably not in our greedy world. But we can look for ways in the home to squeeze more "profit" out of our purchases. A penny saved is a penny earned and sometimes more.
We use sisal twine for our haymaking operations. But we buy straw for bedding and that farmer uses poly twine. So instead viewing the plastic twine as garbage we look for ways to use it. Being mindful and creative we see the twine as a 5' foot length of tough material that may be used for putting together a temporary pen or...But to make the twine the most useful, we need be careful to cut it at the knot, and to save it in a manner that neither takes up space or allows it to become a tangled mess. Instead of a constant mess on the barn floor, this hank of twine looks functional and is handy.
We also save the good cotton string from our feedsacks - I have used it to string my pepper ristras, and am entertaining thoughts of knitting with it.
In the kitchen I save bacon grease for cooking. I make my own butter and pack it in canning jars for freezing, but I do buy butter from the store also. It is usually wrapped in wax paper. I find that if I save these wax paper butter wrappers, I can use them for greasing a baking dish. Folded up and stored in a ziploc bag in the refrigerator, I have ready made baking helpers. I am getting one more use out of that purchased butter and its wrapper before I throw it away. Every little bit does add up, I save money by using something that would get discarded, and I don't have to purchase a product specifically for greasing my pans.
I like to think of ways to re-use things, and I keep that in mind when I am at the store.
Lids from my coconut oil jars become extra lids for refrigerator storage of my home canned foods.
Vitamin bottles can become seed storage containers
Feed bags can become mulching material, or something to kneel on to stay clean while gardening.
Plastic food containers can become storage containers. Just make sure if you are reusing plastic containers for food items that you follow the rule of hot and cold. Do not put hot foods in a container that was made for cold foods, as the hot product may cause chemicals to leach from the plastic that was made for cold products. For instance - soup in a yogurt container is a no-no. Also it is not recommended that fatty foods be stored in plastic either. Hence, my butter goes in glass jars.
These are just a few money saving ideas off the top of my head - what creative tips have you found to be useful in your household?
30 comments:
Nice one, Nita. I love the look of those old jars. I am always surprised by our similarities.
I love these practical ways to simplify and cut costs. Too many of the suggestions that I've seen in the past several years require spending huge amounts of money to be "green". If everyone could just be more creative and mindful of reusing, we would all be better off in the long run.
I still try to buy products in glass containers that are resueable. I also write the company and tell them that I appreciate that they use glass containers that I can reuse.
I have a ton of my grandma's old jars and among them are some French's mustard jars from long long ago, I love them!
Like you, I often make a selection with an eye to reuse. I have written before about my favorite re-purposed items, and just this morning I was considering a post to my employee community mailing list asking people to save small yogurt containers for me to use this spring. Re using is the forgotten stepchild of the green movement.
http://henbogle.wordpress.com/2009/05/10/favorite-garden-tools/
I'm a huge fan of reusing. In my opinion green should mean using things up and wearing them out. Our disposable society is what got us in trouble in the first place.
I recall the first plastic bag in our home. In the 1960's Pioneer seed corn gave out a heavy-wall plastic bag with each season's order. Mom used that bag for wrapping sweet corn we took to Grandma, later for sewing remnants, later yet for storing winter clothes. I am sure I saw those first three bags in use for more than 10-15 years.
I found that I enjoy the Wal-Mart brand of peach-flavored ice tea mix, the sugared one. The plastic canister has a cap measured off in quart increments. What I found neat was to rinse the empty container, measure out three cups sugar and three packets of Kool-Aid (Or Wal-Mart brand), close and shake. Then I spoon out or measure, depending on how much I mix up at a time. Organizes things great. I tend to drink tap water temp rather than tie up a refrigerated pitcher - the peach tea spoiled me. That peach flavored Wal-Mart tea mix, at tap water temp without ice, tastes of the peaches. The markings on the lid of the canister are a touch light according to the package mixing directions; I use about half that for a bit less sugar. Works great.
I buy the local beekeeper's honey in quart jars, and refill the plastic honey-bear dispenser. After six years I am about due for a new bear. And that is several quarts of honey. Hint: Refill over the sink. Stuff happens.
Wal-Mart sells various canisters and things. I picked up a couple of the "saltine jars", put sugar in one for a cheap canister with gallon capacity, and squarish, compact shape.
I picked up a couple four-packs of the snack-pack type vegetables at Wal-Mart. The empty 4 oz cups work great with the washing machine - I figure out how much detergent to use, then set cup and all into the washer. They last forever, and I don't shed a tear if one ends up in the dryer (doesn't hurt on moderate heat), or gets crushed (twice in 6 years).
Then there is the soup can. The Campbell's soup can I use to measure cat food for the barn cats. Must be close to eight years old, part of the paper label is coming off, but still clean and shiny.
Empty mushroom cans clean up easy, and make nice organizers in the shop - small bolts and parts.
Lovely post. My Mom recently gave me some WWII coffee/canning jars that both she and my grandmother have been canning in for years and years. I was honored by the gift. We were at an event today where they served ice cream in the giant plastic pails. I'm not too proud to say that I picked the pail and lid out of the garbage to bring home.
Judy
There is a pasta sauce that is packaged in Atlas mason jars. It is more than a pint, but not quite a quart. Still, I've several of these jars, and they take a regular sized canning lid. So there are some companies out there doing this still.
Great post!
Like many people I reuse milk cartons as planters or cut them down and use them as seedling labels. Alas we can't buy milk in bottles here :(. DH also collects the paper coffee cups from work that people throw out and we use them as planters too. Sometimes we even sell them back to the same people with seedlings in them LOL
I'm also having a course of chinese herbs that are packaged in small zip-lock bags. I am religiously washing and drying them and will have a ready stash of seed envelopes to use for me and my neighbours seed saving efforts.
I remember when they went through a stage of packaging a lot of spreads (cream cheese, nutella etc) in glass containers that could be re-used as actual glasses. They were really useful.
I also try to buy in glass jars and re-use them when I can. Unfortunately, I'm running out of uses for glass tomato sauce bottles!
And I love the idea of vitamin jars as seed storage, I need something to store my saved seeds in!
My pepper powders are in yeast jars, my herbs in boullion jars - the brown glass helps retain color and flavor. My flour canisters are one-gallon jars that used to hold pickles or maraschino cherries. When I gathered most of those, I was working in a restaurant at the top of a ski resort. Good thing I ski well, as I often skied down after work with an empty glass jar in my backpack. We can always use more 5-gallon buckets around the place, especially ones with lids.
Thrift store sheets, bedspreads, and tablecloths are great fabric to refashion. I wash and reuse plastic bread and freezer bags. I freeze water in 1/2-gallon milk cartons to use camping, canning, and making beer.
I have noted many people reuse the glass jars to hold tea lights or candles. Put wire tightly round the top and a loop for hanging if desired and put some sand in the bottom of the jar to hold the stubby candle. These work good on a patio. I like to use the jars for leftovers in the fridge. You can see what you need to use up. Course you can paint a little flower or such on the front of a jar and use it to hold barretts or anything in other rooms. We use the larger ones for canisters painting the metal lids all the same color for consistancy. We have used the small window static cling decorations on them for decoration. These can easily be removed for washing. Uses for glass jars are endless! :) Jody
I try to buy the largest sizes of peanut butter and jelly in glass jars (yay Smuckers!) so that when I have leftovers (rarely--we like to eat around here) I can store them in glass jars. I recently switched to a locally produced honey for the same reason (it comes in a 1 pt mason jar with a reusable lid). I try to buy with reuse in mind, but because we move often (military), I have to be very choosy about what gets saved for reuse and what gets tossed. I also want to reuse my salsa jars, but I'm not sure how to get the salsa smell off the lid. Maybe I should just get over it and use them anyhow. :)
Classico pasta sauce comes in real mason jars. I buy this brand for that very reason.
Love this post! We try to repurpose everything possible. Some items I hold onto just so I can find a way to reuse.
A few years ago, after finding ourselves wondering how to reuse/repurpose random things around the home and garden, we built a website to allow everyone to share practical and inspirational reuses of things: 'How Can I Recycle This?' (http://www.recyclethis.co.uk)
So far, we've had over 8000 suggestions for reusing over 600 every day items - everything from video tapes & plastic bottles to fruit stones, broken sport equipment & expired condoms.
Every family has always reused certain things - it's common sense in that family but often a completely new idea to someone else. Plus, it's a great excuse for me to hoard stuff because I know I'll be able to use it in the future ;)
One thing people have commented on is my reusing the feed bags to turn into latch hook rugs!
I also minimise packaging being thrown out by giving it to the kids for their pretend kitchen and groceries or doing them up as containers for gifts like biscuits and fudge etc(strawberry punnets are an example of this).
I'm late and many of the other comments said what I'd want to say so much better, but this was a great post, one that is meant for remembering.
Love the post and all comments! I, too buy with reuse in mind. I have tried in vane to cut down on junk mail... alas, it still comes. I slit open the envelope and use it for my grocery list and put the my coupons inside. Again, great post! Thank you.
My mother used to keep the wrappers from butter to grease pans!
There are two stages to stop and think:
When purchasing an item, think is the container/wrapper suitable for reuse?
When finishing an item, think can I use this somewhere rather than throw it away?
Of course we don't want to become hoarders of a lot of rubbish, 'just in case I can use it some day'. Its a matter of balance.
A friend of mine recently visited. She had been traveling in Canada and had bought some things for breakfast on the road, including Nutella. Evidently the 200g container is actually a little drinking glass. I'd never seen that size in the US before. I looked at the Nutella website, and in Europe I guess they sell collectible versions--right now they have Looney Tunes. Pretty neat, I thought. I wish American companies would do things like that.
I have used Vaganaise jars for canning eggs, jams, etc... in a water bath canner.... Works great.. I keep the plastic lid that comes with it and use it when making yogurt...
The Hartz bird seed I use for my parakeets comes in nice plastic bottles - I repurpose those to hold staples such as dried beans, pasta, and rice. Easy to see what's there and if it falls out of the cupboard, it bounces. My mom uses Ovaltine jars for the same purpose. Dickenson jelly comes in a square jar that's a good size for about four oz of bulk buy spices. The square jars waste little space in the cupbord. McCormick spice jars never get thrown away, even if they are not used for spice anymore. We reuse margarine tubs for everything. Some brands of orange juice now come in clear plastic carafes that can be reused several times before being sent to recycle.
I make regular trolling trips through the neighborhood on trash day. Recently got two small picnic benches that my neighbor was glad to have for his backyard. Tins of all kinds are common in the recycle bins. My main flour store is in a beautiful tin that used to hold a panettone. I have seed packets in two commemorative tins for cigarettes (go figure why anyone would pay extra for pretty packaging of cigarettes). This week I picked a large Christmas-decorated tin canister, which will be going to my Mom for her Christmas wrapping supplies. Another thing I often pick from the trash are kitty litter pails - some are printed with the brand name but some are plain white and are very useful. We use them for birdseed in the garage and I give a lot of these away when I share plants from the garden. At the end of the year, garden supplies are common: tomato cages, garden furniture, planters, leftover rolls of deer netting, stakes, hoses, etc.
Another overlooked part of the recycle mantra is "reduce". There should be an effort to just "reduce" buying. Many things in my house are "antiques". I still use the silverware set my Mom got in the 1950's as a premium for her bank deposits. My everyday dishes are Stangl made in New Jersey in the 1960's. They don't match, but I don't care. I get to eat off a different beautiful plate every day. And they cost less per plate that anything comparable made new in China. My sugar jar is a Deruta that my Mom bought in Italy in the 1950's. Most of the kitchen equipment came from yard sales (anyone still remember Ekco?).
@ anon, sept 17 - I got nervous a month ago or so, and looked for a backup for my can opener - an Ekco longer handled hand opener. I had one give out on me - rusted up - just three years ago or so.
Ace Hardware still carries the brand. They special ordered me three (the smallest order they would take). And I feel more secure now.
http://www.draftresource.com/mytake/2009/05/09/transition-at-wal-mart-and-elsewhere/
Interesting to hear that mayonnaise jars used to be canning jars. I have found that the plastic lids from the organic mayonnaise I buy perfectly fit the regular mouth canning jars I use. Of course, I can't use the lids for canning. But I save them anyway. They're useful to have on hand once I open a jar of something I canned if it doesn't all get used up at once. Also, I like to put them on the jars after emptying them and washing them. It keeps the dust out of a cleaned jar so that I only need to give it a quick rinse and a boiling water bath the next time I use them, not a thorough going over.
I don't think you're weird or even inordinately interesting, by the way. Just worthy of respect for your thrift and hard work! Welcome.
Ooops. I was conflating this post with Chiot's debut post. Thus my odd comments. Sorry!
Frugality is not just a way of life, it's a way of thinking.
I was just telling someone this morning that I'd just bought a new car, because I had to. (Of course, I bought a USED car. I need it for work). The clutch on the old one was slipping, the tires were bare, and the coolant was leaking through the heating vents into the car interior. When I turned on the heat, I get clouds of vaporized coolant billowing into the car.
But, the car still runs. It gets me from point A to point B. And that's all we need cars for, right? I feeling guilty!
I buy the local beekeeper's honey in quart jars, and refill the plastic honey-bear dispenser. After six years I am about due for a new bear. And that is several quarts of honey. Hint: Refill over the sink. Stuff happens.
Wow, I have been totally remiss in getting back here and answering my comments. Now I am bookmarking this post for myself as well, the comments are full of great ideas!!
Thank you all :)
I finally decided to write a comment on your blog. I just wanted to say good job. I really enjoy reading your posts.
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