Recently, my family and I have made a more concerted effort to recycle and reuse household items. We’re keeping soda top tabs to donate, collecting aluminum cans to recycle, and even putting old magazines to good use. “There are many items in our households that can be recycled, including appliances, cars, lead acid batteries, copper, brass, stainless steel, electronics, cardboard, and glass,” says Birmingham-based Patrick Nappi, General Manager of SA Recycling.
One item in particular bothered me each time I tossed it in the trash: glass jelly jars, pickle jars, caper jars, and more grocery glass food jars come into our homes regularly with groceries. I knew there had to be a better way than just throwing them in the trash, where they would most likely end up in a landfill. I wanted to reuse these jars, but I didn’t have a use in mind. “Glass can be infinitely recycled without losing quality!” shares Franziska Trautmann, Co-Founder and CEO of Glass Half Full in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Turns out I found just the right way to reuse these readily available glass jars.
Don’t Toss Them
First, I began keeping the jars after using their contents and avoided putting them in the trash. I vowed to discover a way to reuse them. Nappi explains that if you reuse household items first, you reduce the need to manufacture them from raw materials. “It is better for the environment to recycle glass, metal, and cardboard as opposed to mining for new raw materials, and it conserves natural resources, saves energy, reduces pollution and greenhouse gases,” he says. I knew it was important to recycle, but I knew I needed a purpose for these jars. The last thing I needed was a cluttered cabinet shelf full of unused glass jars…