How to Reuse Salad Dressing Jars

Spring and summer weather always means that consumers start using a lot more salad dressings for such things as potato salad, pea salad and sandwiches. Using a lot more salad dressing also means emptying a lot more salad dressing jars. These jars are usually tossed into the trash and head for your local landfill. Most of them are either plastic or glass, and are not biodegradable. Do something for the environment and learn how to recycle them or reuse them. Here are a few simple suggestions to get you started. Next time you empty that jar, think about what you can use it for.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Plastic salad dressing jars and lids

How to Reuse Salad Dressing Jars

1. Remove the labels and wash all of the salad dressing jars as soon as you empty them. If you don't have an immediate use for them, store them in a pantry or cabinet so that they will be handy when you do need them. Just keep them out of the trash. Most of the salad dressing jars are plastic and some even have a bit of a design on them. Use your imagination to think of ways to put the jars to use instead of putting them in the trash.

2. Fill them with the dry food that comes in a plastic bag, such as rice, beans, and noodles. Not only will it make a pretty display on your shelves, the jars will keep your food airtight and fresher than trying to re-close the torn open bag or box it came in. It will also be much easier to store and organize. No more stacking those loose, sliding bags of beans or rice. No more accidental spills because the bag got a hole in it.

3. 

   Use them in your children's toy room. Crayons eventually get broken, and the box they came in gives it up. Have the kids collect all of the crayons and put them in the salad dressing jars and put on the lids. The jars can sit on their desk or shelves and they will always know where their crayons are. Use another one in the toy room to collect their colored pens, pencils and markers. This also makes their crayons easily transportable if they like to pack them to a friends or to Grandma's house.

4. Don't forget your own home office or computer room. The smaller salad dressing jars make great holders for paper clips, rubber bands and other small office necessities. Their larger counterpart can hold your pens and pencils for a nice "desk set."Utilize them in your sewing or craft room as well. Fill them with buttons, straight pins, beads or anything else you use in your crafts. Set them on shelves and all of your sewing or craft needs are easily accessible.

5. Pass some on to your spouse for the garage or work shop. Men used to love to collect the old glass baby food jars to hold all of their nails, screws and bolts. They'll love these plastic jars as a good bounce on the garage floor won't end up with a big broken mess. Encourage your spouse to organize and sort their many garage "keepsakes" into these handy jars.

6. Put them back into service in your refrigerator. Store leftovers in them and you'll never be hunting for a bowl with a lid again. Making pudding? Pour it into your salad dressing jar, screw the lid on and refrigerate it. Your fridge will be better organized as well. Don't waste money buying all of the many types and sizes of plastic storage containers that the stores offer. Use what you already have; save your hard earned dollars and keep the environment free from trash.

Tips & Warnings

• Add stick on labels to your jars to easily recognize their contents.

[aconner]

on 10/1/2008 Great article! I recently submitted an eHow article about how to recycle glass jars into Snow Globes, check it out. I have a strong love for recycling EVERYTHING. I can't throw away an item without holding it for 10 seconds to think about ways to reuse it. LOL! It's crazy.