2 ways
to
re-use before you recycle
One of the small, unexpected habits my family have learned through this last year involves a chalk pen and that survival spirit that kicked in around this time 2020.
Our store cupboards have been sustained with the incredible wares of local producers, and even more appreciated- their adapting to offer delivery to our door. We didn’t set foot in a supermarket till about a month ago. Till then, we ordered weekly veg, bread and dry goods deliveries, along with occasional cheese hampers, parcels of fresh fish, and various irresistibles.
The dry goods - from a local food co-op, all arrived in brown paper bags. This was delightfully satisfying to receive, and even more satisfying to decant and label in the glass jars we’d hung onto for airtight storage. Perhaps we invested a little more time into stocking-up with oats and pearl barley than the situation actually demanded, but with the world gone mad, and toilet-roll hoarding a big news-story, we could line up old pickle jars labelled ‘soup-mix’ and feel that some sort of order was being maintained.
Thus we embarked upon a year of experimentation with kale and sprouts and bulgur wheat. The deliveries kept coming, and we kept cooking, and soon our diets had changed. And the pickle and tahini jars got rinsed out and used to store an ever increasing range of pulses from Barley to Yellow lentils.
All images © Jane Spencer
Then these jars started to make themselves useful around the house too. Tidy up those draughts pieces? A Mayo jar does the job. Stow phone charging cables? A wide mouthed pickle jar is perfect. Small change loose in a drawer? A pesto jar will keep that for you- and you can see what’s inside.
I did finally chuck some jars in the recycling this week but it has been a long while since I did that.
