Look around your house. There's likely a few products which could see another light of day being recycled into reuse. We're always refilling our Method Foaming Soap dispenser with watered down Ivory hand soap we purchase in bulk (about 2 parts water to one part soap). Or reusing maple syrup bottles for our shampoo and conditioners. There's plenty of other products than can be reused, especially for storage uses...
POM glasses can both be used as candle holders, drink glasses, and spare coin jars. We like to keep pins and X-acto blades inside Republic of Tea tins, and Spega yogurt jars for our sewing supplies. Trader Joe's pink lemonade bottles are always refilled with filtered water and mixed drinks, while Target brand crystal kitty litter packaging is cleaned out and reused as dry cat food dispenser.
We try to mostly stick with items easily washable and with as little branding on it as possible, because who wants a home filled with items with logos all over it? How about you? Any packaging favourites you like to keep and reuse?
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I've really grown to love the two POM tea glasses that ended up in my home one day (friends bought the tea and forgot it in my 'fridge). By far studier than most run of my cheapy drinking glasses. And the slim shape makes a great vase for single flowers.
I noticed the Chimes tin...I recently purchased one due to it's gorgeousness. But I haven't figured out what to store in it yet...kitchen matches maybe? Any ideas?
The spega yogurt jars are amazing. They're great as little milk pitchers or for warming any small amount of liquid - maple syrup, etc., in the microwave then bringing directly to the table. Also perfect as the water jar for water coloring projects. A friend of mine keeps hers filled with liquid dishwashing detergent, instead of having the whole bottle out
I love POM glasses for drinking and for holding pens. They seriously are better drinking glasses (more durable, easier to hold) than the ones I bought.
I like using glass milk jugs (I have one that Jamba Juice made) for holding change.
My parents liked re-using plastic dog bone jugs for holding granola but they left the product stickers on so I always thought it looked a little funny...
i love to use bonne maman jam jars around the house. they are the perfect height and the wide-mouth opening is ideal for pens, etc.
wish i could get spega yogurt around here in VA. our trader joe's and whole foods don't stock it!
does anyone have any ideas of methods for removing the either paper labels or ones on the jars?
I reuse bonne maman jars too. I use them for making and storing salad dressing. They're great because you just shake all your ingredients together (with the lid on) instead of stirring.
I also use old Illy coffee cans for pens, markers change...
I recently started doing this. I store raisins, pretzels and pumpkin seeds in Classico tomato sauce jars, and I specifically bought some DiCicco pasta in a tall tin so I could refill it and use with pasta. I love those POM glasses and I think I'll get some of those too!
Altoids tins.
Vintage mason jars, especially the cool teal ones.
acslater: soak jars with paper labels over night with a little bit of dishwashing soap, then scrape. if there's adhesive left, you can use nail polish remover to get it off.
cafe bustelo cans. i don't even drink coffee, but i love the red and yellow packaging. i used to steal empty cans from my last roommate. i use one for colored pencils, one for markers, one for drafting pens, one for cutting utensils, etc.
Another vote for Bonne Maman jars. I use them as double old fashions for bedside water, very short vases and mise en place containers when cooking.
I've reused Whole Foods 365 olive oil bottles for shampoo/conditioner and salad dressing. Now, I've switched the shampoo and conditioner to reused Mrs Meyers dish detergent bottles with the labels peeled because it's easier to squeeze then to wait on the shampoo to roll out of the glass bottle.
is the tall bottle with the flip top the trader joe's lemonade? If so is it a carbonated one, or just regular lemonade? I used to get kind of sparkling lemonade from the grocery store that looked a lot like that. So i reuse them and bottle my own beer in them.
i'm always trying to keep bottles and jars and my wife is always looking at me like i'm crazy.
i keep an empty POM glass (with the lid) in my cupboard. i'm not very inventive, so i just use it to store drinks and water plants.
Clementine boxes. I keep some whole and use them to store crafty stuff or gloves and scarves. I use others as stackable shelves by taking off one long piece from the side. The bottom is a bit flimsy if you detach it from the side piece, but you can then take the side piece and slip it on top of the bottom but under the corner pieces to reinforce that lip. I store my dried fruits and nuts and stuff on shelves like that, and my onions and garlic and winter squashes. And for once I don't mind the branding because it's often quite attractive in a rustic kind of way.
I use lowfat Hellman's mayonnaise jars for loose change --I soak label off, then use WD-40 to get rest of junk off (or use a scour pad, whichever one is handy). To get the smell out, I use baking soda, a little vinegar and water, pull out the cardboard insert in jar lid, screw on lid and shake and let it soak overnight. Then pour out water, air dry.
Crystal clean and smelling good.
I also use Arizona Tea bottles. Great for storing change at work.
I use the spice jars that you get at Marshall's (they have great spices and gourmet flavorings/foods). I use those for paper clips and other office supplies.
Oh yeah, and I use an Altoids tin for on the go sewing kit....
I reuse the 1/2 gallon milk bottles for serving mixed drinks like Sangria during the summer. I love them!
jmorey: it's sparkling lemonade and sparkling pink lemonade that comes in those bottles.
tattfoo thats a really different and pretty cool idea! i loved reading the stories behind them as much as i loved the jars!
Also my Nana has a lead lighting class she teaches. For gifts she uses a glass cutter to put a break line in glass bottles (wine bottles mostly, they come in awesome colours and shapes) then smashes them leaving the bottom half intact. Then she grinds down the edges to nice shapes and uses lead lighting to cover the endges, make patterns on them and stick glass beads and marbles and stones to them.
I made one when I went to visit last and it has pride of place on my desk!
be careful with those Pom glasses. One of my friends used it for tea, and since it's not tempered glass, it couldn't hold up to the heat of the water so the glass broke in his hand and scalding hot water poured right onto his junk.
I love the glass jars Nutella comes in- the ones that look like lowball glasses with plastic snap on lids. I got a few in England; I'm not sure you can get them stateside.
patron tequila bottles make lovely decanters or flower vases. when i bartended in san francisco, i saved the empty bottles for customers who would reuse them for these purposes. ask you local bartender. i bet they'd save them for you, too!
I have a patron tequila bottle to collect pennies, a few french lemonade bottles with Olive and veggie oil. We have a few Pom glasses, but I really, really hate their logo - any super visible logo, in fact. It reminds me of when my aunt brings home made salsa in a country crock margerine tub. She'd mix it up with a Folger's bottle too.
I reuse just about all my glass jars. An empty pickle jar was cleaned and used for a toothbrush holder. A sundried tomato jar holds my writing utensils. Itty bitty baby food jars make cute tealight holders when encased with a custom knit sweater. A large honey jar now holds loose tea. Another jar (I can't remember from what) I use for disposable makeup sponges. A latched bath salt jar holds my buttons. I'm going to stop now before I remember more....
I use bonne maman glass jar too.
Just pop it on the top rack in the dishwasher, the label will be off with one cycle.
I use them for storing sewing materials. They look pretty and orderly.
i used to put all of my spices into bonne maman jam jars. i don't have the space now, so i no longer buy spices in bulk from the indo-asian market anymore, but i loved the look and the red and white checked lids on the shelf for spices. it makes you feel homey and want to cook!
I use those tall jars that fresh oysters come in to sort my button collection. They look nice lined up on the shelf, since they're all a uniform size and shape. Good for sorting coins, too.
oh yeah, and those big plastic cannisters that Trader Joe's protein powder comes in, I use those for dry cat food. And those Pirouette cookie tins make good grease cans for the stove.
Lots of Mexicans (like myself) like to save our mole jars, they make great juice glasses.
My fav re-used jar is a "Chinese Honey" jar I bought at a local Asian foods store. It's adorable! I use it in my bathroom for q-tips.
i have the mole and cajeta jars as glasses, too.
The Pom glasses are great, especially now that they've redesigned their logo-it's all clear glass now. Barilla's pasta sauce jars are also very pretty & reusable, once you take off the paper. I usually remove glued-on paper by soaking the jar for a while in hot soapy water, and then scrape it off-this also ensures the jar and lid are completely clean before I refill it. What also works is to rub a little veggie oil on the paper, let it sit for few minutes, the paper and glue will peel right off.
Classico tomato sauce jars are great - they're just good 'ole standard size Atlas canning jars, so they can be re-used for canning, as well, if you purchase lids and rings (though I tend to use them with their original lids, just to store extra sauces in the freezer). I also love Marie's dressing jars - perfect for smaller batches of things I wanna chill or freeze, i.e. a single-serving. I just can't bring myself to throw jars with functional lids away (thankfully my wife is equally OCD on this so no complaints from her)...
Patron tequila bottles ARE awesome, Pixiedust, and I'd never thought to ask a local bar to save 'em for me - good thought! Not a tekillya drinker myself, but one year I swiped all my Dad's and made flavored vinegars in them for gifts (braided hemp "chokers" with a pendant bead around the necks).
Often I save the tall bottles that the olive oil I use from Trader Joe's come in... the glass is a beautiful green color (not "bright," but yellow-y) and I line several up on a table or the window sill, each with a single bloom or stem of foilage...
I have a ton of those POM glasses. They make the best drink glasses and I love the logo, especially considering I have a POM Tea poster in my kitchen. Unfortunately, I noticed the tea no longer comes in those glasses, but plastic jugs... at least in my area. What a bummer.
I like Lorina Lemonade bottles (which might be what's featured there) and Boylan Soda bottles as vases.
acslater:
I load the jars with the paper on into the dishwasher. When the cycle is finished, take them out while they are still hot. The glue and gunk will come right off.
As a designer, I see way too many (over-used) logos in a day. I try to remove as much branding from my home as possible. One example is my spice cabinet, I buy my spices in bulk (think 10 cents for a bag of dried basil) and store them in re-purposed jars. My pantry is lovely and brand free. I love opening the door and seeing the pretty row of colorful spices and glass.
what jars do us use for your spices?