Look! Canisters

Neat and tidy and green. Our friend Robin, who's an amazing cook, keeps her essentials, like bulk grains from Bob's Red Mill, including in these simple, square glass containers. They're space efficient and attractive... and affordable, with pleasing heft and a good seal. Green Home co-editor Steph found them at The Container Store for $5-$10 each.

We bet they'll pay for themselves, because a few of these mean you'll buy more from the bulk aisle in your supermarket.

Comments (8)

These jars make me think of Alan Watts' essay "Murder in the Kitchen."

"As no true lover of books would keep them hidden in cupboards, so the basic food supplies that need no refrigeration should not have their comforting presence concealed. Flour, sugar, salt, rice, and other grains should be kept in stoppered glass jars…Spices, canned goods, boxes, and bottles should adorn the walls on open shelves, covered only with sliding glass panels if protection from glass be necessary…."

not to be too obnoxious with my constant cries of "don't buy!", but I've really enjoyed re-using the glass jars that food comes packaged in. There is a way to do this that can look very nice (though obviously it isn't as minimalist and streamlined as these are), especially if you use nice jars and be sure to remove the old labels.

Though I think this brings up the fine line between wanting to be sustainable, and also wanting to pursue a certain aesthetic. I'd certainly rather see people invest in good glass containers like these than get another piece of plastic junk which will need replacing much sooner. But are these glass containers inherently "green"? Not really...

I'm with the opoponax. I reuse glass jars from packaged food. I also have 3 sizes of glass canning jars, 4 oz, 8oz, and 16 oz that are used to store things in cupboards, the fridge, and the freezer.

And if you really feel the need for larger ones, almost all 2nd Sally Army stores or Goodwill stores, etc. have these. For huge amounts, most restaurants toss the plastic jars with screw lids that their supplies come in, and you can get those for free.

Why buy new ones at $10 each? That's insane, I think.

I found these at the flea market for a total of €4.50 for 8 jars.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rappyamhappy/1462870341/in/set-72157602208288844/

They are about 80 years old, with glass lids, originally used for canning. I love them dearly and have already filled them with pasta, rice, baking supplies, coffee, tea and more. I'll be on the lookout for more because they are cheap, gorgeous and just all together awesome.

They are much better than these, from Ikea, which are absurdly expensive and whose rubber sealants keeps sliding off (a two-person process to get them back on).

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20100249