Saturday, December 15, 2018

Climate Challenge Day 16: canning jars and plastic bags


Canning Jars
When I started canning, I discovered an excellent general food storage container. We use canning jars for everything—leftovers, extra cooked veggies and grains, yogurt, all of our dried goods.

Why use canning jars:
1.       They do not leak, even upside down in a backpack.
2.       They come in three sizes, half pint, pint, and quart.
3.       A pint is the perfect size for soup for lunch.
4.       They are easy to clean, even if something rots.
5.       You can see what is inside, lined up in the fridge.
6.       They are cheap and easy to find.
7.       They are infinitely reusable. We have jars from 1976.
8.       They can go into the freezer with pesto or cooked squash.
9.       Old blue jars from the 1930s store all sorts of beans, grains, and dried fruits and look beautiful.
10.   They store neatly.
11.   No more annoying plastic containers and mis-matched lids. This one is HUGE!


Plastic Bags
We also reuse our plastic bags. Despite my efforts, they do wander into the house from the autumn CSA, from our tortillas, from an occasional sliced turkey purchase. A few years ago, Mark’s mom gave us a shirt sized box full of various ziplock bags and we are good for the rest of our lives. We wash the bags and hang them to dry in the back hall. Some have been around for years.  When we bring home a plastic grocery bag, we use them to cover larger items, like a casserole left over in the pan or a big bowl of fruitcake prep. We never buy plastic wrap. When the bags die, we gather them into an old chicken feed bag for recycling.




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