Using glass for food storage

Using glass containers for food storage instead of plastic

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

When advocating glass containers for storing foods, including leftovers in the fridge, it always amazes me that most people today cannot think further than their wallet.

Invariably there will always be a number of people who will chip in that they would love to change from plastic containers to glass ones but that it is too expensive.

We seem to have become so orientated – or should I say brainwashed – towards consumption that even people wish to think of themselves as “green”, and as “homesteaders” even, cannot think further than buying.

Instead of looking at how much something we need or want costs we should first of all consider as to whether we can reuse or repurpose something for it or make it ourselves by means of upcycling or otherwise.

When it comes to glass containers for use to store food and leftovers I am sure everyone, like myself, has a fair number of glass jars coming into the home on a weekly basis filled with this or that, and in many different sizes; the ideal candidates for storage jars.

Far too many today cannot see, or so at least it would appear, further than their own noses and rather toss such jars into the recycling bin and then look at buying new jars in which to store food.

And then they say that they would like to change from plastic to glass but cannot see how they could afford it as glass is expensive.

I find it amazing that apparently so many people can no longer think straight like our parents and grandparents did. No glass jar from pickles, jam, mustard, etc. was ever thrown out. They would be used again and again. The attitude was – and they understood the fact – of our old ones was that they had paid for those jars in the purchase price and were going to put them to use, and that indeed they did.

The kitchen and the larder were full of different sized reused glass jars holding all manner of dry foods, etc., such as beans, peas, rice, pasta, flour, sugar, coffee, tea, you name it, and that was just in those two places, and as far as food storage goes.

Such glass jars also were employed to hold buttons and other things for sewing projects, seeds for the garden, nuts, bolts, screws, washers, and much, much more, and oh, candy (most important for a child).

Reuse of everything was the norm back then and that not just for glass jars. Biscuit tins, cigar boxes, show boxes and much more, all found a second or third use. But, since the last two decades of the twentieth century, or thereabouts, most seem to have lost this mindset and can only think of buying what they want and need.

© 2013

Repurposing glass containers

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Reusing and repurposing class containers is probably as old as such containers themselves and in times past most of those were used, reused and repurposed until such a time that they could no longer be used because they were broken.

Many of us have a steady stream of glass containers coming into our homes, but we often don't know what to do with all of them. Reason for that, more often than not, is that we have been condition to immediately go into the recycling mode.

Now most people cannot think further than tossing such valuable items, as glass jars and other glass containers, are into the recycling bin. That bin should be the absolute last resort and not the first thought. We have, however, been conditioned, or should I say brainwashed, to think only recycle and buy new what we could easily reuse and repurpose such containers for. And this does not just for glass containers. It does so equally for paper and card, for plastic containers, tin cans, and much, much more.

Used glass jars and other such items can be repurposed for so many different things.

When I was a child most people reused glass jars of all kinds for all kinds of things. Grandfathers and fathers kept screws, nails, and what-have-you in them and grandmothers and mothers used them in the kitchen as storage containers for dried things such as sugar, coffee, tea, beans, rice, salt, and also for to store leftovers. They also used them for buttons and other small things. We seem to have lost that and buy all manner of storage containers when an glass jar we have finished with would do the job just as well with no impact on out finances and the Planet's resources.

Oh, and before anyone suggests that the glass jars that go into the recycling bin are made into new bottles and jars let me enlighten you. They are not. In 99% of all cases they are made into products other than what they were, often simply road sand, bricks, and counter tops. A waste of resources and energy.

There are many ways of reusing and repurposing glass jars and here are just a few suggestions.

You can, for instance, turn old glass containers into beautiful vases for your kitchen window or even for the table.

One of my favorites for that, I have to say, are tall square glass jar in which I buy my coffee from Lidl.

You can also use larger glass containers as mini 'cloches' to get an early start on planting tomatoes and such outdoors. Many dill pickles tend to come in large jars that are well suited for this. Just remember to take them off the plants when the sun beats down on them as there will be no opening to regulate the heat. But then the old glass cloches had not any either.

The same jars also are good for the making of a small terrarium or especially a bottle garden.

Like many of our ancestors your could also use them for leftovers, small and large ones, depending how much you have on leftovers. Glass jars are also great for keeping small items organized, such as crafts, hardware, jewelry, toiletries, you name it.

I remember cottage gardens as a child where the part borders were all lined with old glass bottles, stuck into the ground by their necks and many people also created borders for slightly raised beds with them.

Empty wine bottles and such can also be used as candlesticks, obviously, for use during power outages or for a (romantic) dinner or dinner party.

In the good old Hippie days of the 1960s and 1970s many repurposed glass jars for drinking vessel, as I still do today. Small squat ones from, for instance, mustard, become whisky tumblers, larger ones, from small Frankfurters glass for beer, water and juice and those from herbs and spices shot glasses.

As you can see only you imagination sets the limits as to how glass containers can be reused and repurposed, and the same is true for other so-called waste items, whether tin cans, plastic containers, and much else.

Always reuse and repurpose before heading for the recycling bin...

© 2013