11 Ways You Can Help Save the World With Mason Jars
Updated: Apr. 22, 2022Get a little Earth friendly with one of the best friends in the kitchen — the Mason jar.
Mason Jar Bird Feeder
Mason jars are everywhere! You can build a winter bird feeder using a Mason jar or purchase attachments. These feeders are attractive hanging from trees or plant hooks.
DIY Mason Jar Dish Scrubber
If you are all about ease and convenience when it comes to washing the dishes, check out this DIY Mason jar dish scrubber. It even has a soap-dispensing handle. First, punch a few nail holes in the jar’s lid. Trace the lid onto a sponge and cut it out. Hot glue the sponge to the inner rim of the screw-on part of the lid. Fill the jar with soap, screw on the sponge and you’re set!
These 25 why-didn’t-I-think-of-that Handy Hints for the Home Cook will help you save time, get organized and work more efficiently in your kitchen.
Herb Garden
We love Mason jars for a variety of reasons from décor to cleaning purposes but we really like the idea of starting an herb garden with Mason jars. Get some more ideas for an herb garden of your own by looking at these 10 charming indoor herb gardens.
Single Serving Meals
Mason jars are great for creating single serving meals. You can easily make a salad in one or have a pasta salad. A lot of folks will mix granola and yogurt together for a delicious snack. You’ll help reduce waste by using Mason jars for some of your meals.
Glass is Far More Sustainable
Plastic products are very common in our modern life. According to The Pacific Institute, “every year we use approximately 1.6 million barrels of oil just for producing plastic water bottles.” Plastic waste is one of many types of wastes that take too long to decompose. Normally, plastic items can take up to 1,000 years to decompose in landfills. But plastic bags we use in our everyday life take 10 to 1,000 years to decompose, while plastic bottles can take 450 years or more. Instead of throwing those plastic bags away, here are 15 brilliant ways to reuse plastic grocery bags. Plus, the energy saved from recycling a glass bottle will operate a 100-watt light bulb for four hours.
These 10 products will help you live more waste free as well.
Store Leftovers
Storing leftovers in an array of containers often turns out to be a game of peek-a-boo when you’re searching for something to eat. But if you store leftovers in clear containers you can make a decision quicker and know if it’s time to throw something out.
Canning
Canning is an age-old activity for many and it’s still an important activity to help prevent food waste. Around 40 percent of food in the U.S. gets wasted annually so if you can keep some from spoiling and use less food, the more we’ll have to feed others. Want to learn how to can? Here’s a terrific primer on the art of canning.
Drinks
A lot of people like to use Mason jars for beverages of all kinds. Mason jars can be the perfect vessel for an iced tea on a hot summer day or the best container to fit all the ingredients of a Bloody Mary. This might be the greatest Mason jar hack we’ve come across.
Beauty Products
In a perfect world there wouldn’t be so many plastic bottles and jars in use for beauty products. There are any number of DIY repurposing projects out there that turn Mason jars into soap dispensers but there are also several others where people store their beauty products. Try these tips to find more storage in your bathroom.
Bee Feeder
Bees have been in need of a boost since colony collapses have taken place due to the use of neonicotinoids on plants. Since we need bees to pollinate plants, it’s important to do what we can to increase the population. You can grow bee friendly plants or create bee feeders from Mason jars.
Bulk Shopping to Reduce Single-Use Plastics
Mason jars are a staple at farmers’ markets and for good reasons. Farmers have used them for generations and they eliminate the need for single-use plastics. So much food at grocery stores comes in plastic containers and Mason jars provide a more sustainable container. People who shop for bulk food often resort to bringing their own Mason jars to the grocery store to reduce their waste.