Life without plastic begins with glass

The best recycling program is you.

I started making my own peanut butter because I thought my husband might leave me if I bought and saved one more peanut butter jar. The peanut butter, olive, and honey jars occupy more space in our cabinets than our mugs and drinking glasses. Still, I nearly always have one when I need it for leftovers, storage, or even drinking.

I try to avoid single-use plastic and plastic in general, as it’s virtually unrecyclable and increasingly clearly very bad for us. Glass isn’t perfect either—it’s heavier to transport, breakable, and energy-intensive to recycle. I reconcile this by shopping for items that are paper, package-free, or, much to Skylar’s chagrin, reusing all these damn jars.

I use them to store spices, nuts, seeds, loose-leaf teas, dried peppers and mushrooms, grains, you name it! Jars are also wonderfully practical for decanting. For instance, I poured a cup of baking soda from the massive cardboard box into a smaller, baking-ready jar. Perfect.

A glass-first pantry also has the practical effect of reminding you what is in your kitchen—no more staling or oxidizing food forgotten at the back of your cupboard. Jars can also be reused for other small storage around the house, such as organizing toothbrushes or ponytail holders. A few favorite vessels have even become drinking glasses.

Some caveats

I only reuse glass jars for food storage if the original jar was used for food. For example, I would not reuse a candle holder for drinking or food storage.

You can freeze liquids in glass. The key is to freeze them only in wide-mouth jars and leave an inch of empty space at the top. This will allow the jar’s contents to expand and contract without cracking the glass.

I usually recycle skinny-neck jars (from things like soy sauce) because I don’t reuse them often, and they can be tough to clean. That said, I store peppercorns in one and keep a few around for decanting cream-line milk to use as half-and-half in coffee. I also reuse wine bottles with flip-tops for kombucha.

How to remove the labels

Some adhesive labels are much easier to remove than others. That shiny adhesive (must be plastic-based? Could a packaging nerd comment?) is hell, and I don’t bother saving those jars; they get recycled. Some of the plastic-y labels can be carefully peeled off, but it varies.

1. Run through the dishwasher, or hand wash super well. At this stage, I put them in the cabinet until I have a handful of jars to process in a batch.

2. In a large bowl or tub, soak the jars in hot water and a little dish soap.

3. After 12 to 24 hours the labels will be well-soaked. If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to pull off the label and there will only be a little adhesive where the seam was.

4. If you’re not so lucky, take the dull side of a butter knife and start scraping the label and adhesive. Scrape into the garbage, not into the water or sink.

How to remove the adhesive

This is one of those Instagram Reel hacks that feels too good to be true, but it works just as well as chemical adhesive remover on glass.

1. Use the cheapest cooking oil you have—canola, olive, whatever. Pour a few tablespoons of the oil into a small bowl and mix with an equal-ish amount of baking soda to form a loose paste.

2. Next, dip a terry cloth towel into the paste and use it to rub off the adhesive. You could use a paper towel, but a cloth towel works better because of the cloth’s texture.

3. Hand wash or run through the dishwasher again.

How to make them look cute

The most important part! I love a label maker. Mine is a Dymo Letratag that I bought from eBay a few years ago. The thermal-printed labels don’t hold up well to heat, water, or heavy handling, but that’s perfectly fine. They can be removed using the method mentioned earlier, or you can place a new label over the old one.

You could also get crafty and handmake or handwrite labels. Jars are a perfect vessel for a homemade gift too—things like sourdough starter or custom loose-leaf tea blends. 🫙

What to store in reused jars

In the pantry:

• Loose-leaf teas

• Nuts

• Seeds, like chia, hemp, and sesame

• Salts

• Homegrown herbs or bagged spices

• Dried mushrooms

• Dried peppers

• Quinoa

• Lentils

• Cornmeal and polenta

• Potato starch

• Popping corn

• Specialty granulated sugar

In the fridge:

• Salad dressings

• Sourdough starter

• Homemade chili oils

In the freezer:

• Breadcrumbs

• Instant yeast

• Cooked beans

Miscellaneous:

• Countertop vessel for small kitchen utensils like tweezers, pastry brushes, sourdough stirrer, and bread lame

• Vessel for candle wick trimmer and electric candle lighter

• Skinny neck bottle for dish soap, I popped on an oil decanter spout

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