As anyone who takes their first tentative steps down a low consumption, self-sufficient, low waste path quickly discovers…you’re going to need a lot more jars.
I’ve always been a big fan of the humble jar and tend to always have a supply in a cupboard somewhere. I use them to store food and spices (many food items keep far longer in a glass jar in the fridge than in plastic, you can also freeze them if you’re careful), as makeshift vases, as tumblers, to propagate plants, to store craft bits…In fact, where it’s an option, I will often preferentially buy food items if they come in a nicely designed jar (are you listening, food manufacturers?)
One of the most recent trends I’ve noticed is trendy bars and restaurants serving up their wares in old jam jars (or, with no hint of irony, new jars made to look like old jam jars).
Having said that, it’s not entirely a new concept in ‘quirky cafe’ circles to embrace the reuse principle. From old jars transformed into chunky utilitarian everyday items, cafes who use mismatched vintage crockery to serve food and drinks or restaurant tables made from reclaimed or repurposed items. In the cafe culture this trend of capitalising on quirk is seen as both cool and anti-corporate, as well as giving establishments an individual edge. Stripping away the veneer of the constant mass production, we soon realise that it is, in essence, no different to drink a glass of water out of an old jam jar than a $7 glass tumbler. In reality, if it’s fit for purpose then everything else is just window dressing.
But, while this kind of quirk might be cool in that funky cafe in London, in our own homes the ‘Keeping up with the Joneses’ mentality compels many of us to constantly buy new, matching and updated. So, the next time you’re washing up a jar for the recycle bin, have a think about how you might reuse it instead.
Here’s a link to cool stuff you can make from old jars
http://noshon.it/blog/2013/07/12-things-you-didnt-know-you-could-do-with-mason-jars/
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