An idea for companies from a Reuser

I'd LOVE to see companies that sell things in good glass jars, protein powder companies, and others who use good containers add a feature that would enhance their "greenness" which can only help their sales a bit.

It would say on the package label something like "This container can be reused! The label will soak off easily, check our website for ideas for reuse!" And their websites would have ideas for things like food storage, other storage, crafts etc.

Why do I want this? I reuse those containers. LOTS of those containers, all types, and I take the labels off them. That gets tedious, but it's worth it to me. Some are simple to get off once soaked, some stay sticky no matter what you do due to the adhesive used. It can't be difficult to use an adhesive that's removable, some companies are doing it, but not publicizing it. If they made taking the labels off a lot easier, and publicize it, perhaps more people would consider reusing them, and go to the websites to get ideas. It would wake up a few more people to reusing things, and make the lives of those of us who are aware of how much of this stuff gets wasted a lot easier.

Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Recycle.  
We NEED more reuse and repair going on!!
I think companies could profit (financially and/or socially) by helping this be easy to do.

A thread on what me and others do with reused containers:
Reused Containers for Food Storage

It does seem that Costco, at least here in Canada, tries to get packages that can be reused. Their margarine tubs are a lovely container and the labels come off easily and cleanly. Same with the Metamucil tubes. Even some of their veg come in freezer bags I've been able to reuse.
It would be great to see more of it out there!

Very timely for me.  About 60 days ago my wife and I began to actively seek out products with containers reusable for us.  This means containers of at least one quart with screw on lids.

It looks like we need to consider the labels as well.

John F Dean wrote: It looks like we need to consider the labels as well.

I recall that there's a whole thread about getting labels off - the ones that come with canning jars (or at least used to) are the worst - duh???

However, a trick I use for the glop that won't come off with hot water is to smear the sticky area with coconut oil (butter would likely work - most veggie oils drip, requiring the jar to be put in more serious quarantine during the process). I leave it for a day or 3, then try washing again. I repeat if it mostly worked, but not totally. If it made no difference, I have to try some other technique. The glues are varied, and water-based ones are only a subsection as seem to be the ones that denature in response to veggie oil.

What I really wish is to find more wide-mouth glass jars with a metal lid that are a couple of gallons at least. Some restaurants get pickles in them. None near me that I've seen.

Hi Dian,

Indeed COSTCO is our regular goto.   It is an 80 mile one way drive to the Big City where it is located, but it is also where our MDs are located.   So, that is where we do many of our bulk purchases.

Yes, there is a thread on getting labels off glass jars. It's in the Related Topics below this thread.
Getting labels off plastic is doable, it takes elbow grease. If I were a different type of person, I'd just get something like a few rolls of contact paper and cover the labels. Much less work.  and I know a lot of people that just ignore the labels and leave them on, write on them, or put tape labels on them. That makes me utterly insane, I'd rather scrub things and use razor blades, but that's me and my OCD.

But WHY aren't companies scoring greenie points by advertising their labels come off easy? Seems like an easy win for them. The type that come off easy are around, some just waltz right off. It's not hard tech, and adds value to their product.

Pearl Sutton wrote:But WHY aren't companies scoring greenie points by advertising their labels come off easy? Seems like an easy win for them. The type that come off easy are around, some just waltz right off. It's not hard tech, and adds value to their product.

I imagine it's due to optics more than metrics. If anything, companies try to do the opposite. By presenting themselves as being the preferred brand of rich people, it boosts sales among people who either idolize rich people or like to think themselves better off than they really are. Reusing a shipping container has traditionally been associated with poor people. The only exception I see is when the storage containers are antiques. Then owning them is perfectly cool, in a Marie Antoinette kind of way.

"But 'going green' is keeeewl!" Yeah, like switching to CFLs, then LEDs, then hybrid vehicles, then electric vehicles... What do all these have in common? Spending more and more money for newer and newer tech. For the most part, I don't think "going green" is the cool part, spending more money (as has always been) is the cool part. "Going green" is the justification for people who otherwise don't really care about such things.

I guess the question is how to make reusing stuff mainstream cool to people who see it as the opposite.

Pill bottles are the worst.
We are a people with lots of ailments,  and the pill bottles can be reused by a local non-profit, but the both the labels and the private information they communicate have to be removed.
I hate these bottles, i.think waxpaper cartons or envelopeswoyld be better, but this is a very entrenched industry.
Just changing the label adhesive would be helpful.
A dish washer or even a washing machine could help, but preventing the problem in the first place would be better.


I purposeful buy pickles because the mouths of the jars are bigger than most other foods, plus I love pickles.
I've been known to buy a gallon jar and move the contents into smaller jars, so I can fit the pickles into the fridge and still have a gallon sized jar left to ferment in.

I keep  tomato sauce and Alfredo sauce jars because many of them  have roughly interchangeable lids.

I've been recycling odd jars to make room for the more desirable identical ones, but  I'm always torn.
It might be time to cast that jar + morter stepping stone/ window...

I love this idea, but would add just a little.  I really HATE plastic (and I don't use the word 'hate' often).  I would love to see better paper produce packaging; a real butcher shop where the meats are in cases and wrapped in butcher paper when you purchase it; the same with cheese.  Paper produce cartons could be advertised as compostable.  Butcher paper usually is waxed, so would not be compostable, but much better than styrofoam and plastic wrap.

There are a few stores that actually have programs for those in the city to bring their bags, containers, food scraps, even clothes to sort in bins.  The stores then deliver them to farms, or other places where they can be reused or composted.

William Bronson wrote:I keep  tomato sauce and Alfredo sauce jars because many of them have roughly interchangeable lids.  

In my world "prego jar" is shorthand for "any jar that uses this size of lid" and I will keep or take out of trash any jar that uses that size lid, and use them for non-canning things, like storing grains in the kitchen.  I would not can in them, as the lids were canned commercially already and that makes them too iffy in my book. It's a common size lid, up there with wide mouth and regular mouth mason lids for easy to identify and reuse.

Pearl Sutton wrote: I would not can in them, as the lids were canned commercially already and that makes them too iffy in my book.

If I'm making jam or pickles, I do have 1 or 2 of the 250 to 500ml size at hand, well-cleaned and warmed up. If I run out of canning jars or more commonly, space in my canner, I will fill those jars and then gift them to people as "refrigerator pickles", making sure they understand that it's not shelf-stable. Since they're essentially "free" jars, I don't overly care if they don't get returned when empty, although most of the people I gift to, have long since got the message - return the jar and it might get refilled!

Reality is that they aren't "free" jars, as I've put time and effort into getting the blankety-blank label off!

Jordan Holland wrote:

Pearl Sutton wrote:But WHY aren't companies scoring greenie points by advertising their labels come off easy? Seems like an easy win for them. The type that come off easy are around, some just waltz right off. It's not hard tech, and adds value to their product.

I imagine it's due to optics more than metrics. If anything, companies try to do the opposite. By presenting themselves as being the preferred brand of rich people, it boosts sales among people who either idolize rich people or like to think themselves better off than they really are. Reusing a shipping container has traditionally been associated with poor people. The only exception I see is when the storage containers are antiques. Then owning them is perfectly cool, in a Marie Antoinette kind of way....

I guess the question is how to make reusing stuff mainstream cool to people who see it as the opposite.

Careful Jordan, you're hovering dangerously close to the truth!

I dunno, maybe spaghetti sauce in limited edition collectable pressed glass jars? Yeah, nope, not much traction there.

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:
I dunno, maybe spaghetti sauce in limited edition collectable pressed glass jars? Yeah, nope, not much traction there.

Actually... I have seen those. In.... the 1990s? I might still have some around. I don't know that they were limited edition, but one of the tomato product companies had tomato designs in the glass.

FWIW,  there are my wife has fallen in with a group of "reble canners" who reuse jars and lids for canning.
They do a lot of things that are generally considered unsafe, but I do think they have some points.

William Bronson wrote: FWIW,  there are my wife has fallen in with a group of "rebel canners" who reuse jars and lids for canning.
They do a lot of things that are generally considered unsafe, but I do think they have some points.

I've always felt that it's in the interest of "Industrial Food Companies" to make home canning seem difficult and dangerous. I've watched some shows about how the Amish do things by tradition, rather than by modern regs, and I suspect if they were all being hospitalized for Botulism, the newsies would get a hold of the story somehow.

However, the devil is in the details - which is usually the acid level. If you can food with enough acid, Botulism can't grow. If you don't, you need to be really sure of your equipment and your timing to be safe. Most other nasties show signs - like loss of seal, or actual mould, or a funny smell - to warn you that you messed up. Botulism is silently sneaky and very nasty.

I've always wondered if the difficult to remove labels was part of the same attitude. There's a brand of tomato sauce that comes in a canning jar, like an invitation to reuse it, but alas, those labels are some of the most frustrating to remove!

Jay Angler wrote:I've always wondered if the difficult to remove labels was part of the same attitude. There's a brand of tomato sauce that comes in a canning jar, like an invitation to reuse it, but alas, those labels are some of the most frustrating to remove!

The ones I have seen like that soak off, then take a razor blade in COLD water to get the glue off. Hot water makes the glue sticky, cold water makes it chip off.