Green Wednesday: Saving Baby Food Jars

While I make most of Flower's baby food from fresh produce, I do keep some jars of fruit on hand for emergencies, dining out, and convenience. For some reason, I find baby food jars especially intriguing. I never throw them away. I know there have to be a gazillion good uses for them. But the majority of the time, I find that I only save them and pile them in boxes. I still have some baby food jars that I used with Spark years ago! My city recycles glass, but I just can't bring myself to throw these jars out. It's hard enough to throw out the other glass jars (pickles, pasta, applesauce, jams, the list is long). In fact, I rarely throw them out either! Glass jars are taking over my house!! (Feel free to send me great ideas for reusing glass jars, especially baby food jars!)

Finally, I have found a way to offload some of my jars. Spark's teacher needs some baby food jars for a project she is having her class of 14 four year olds do. I offered to save Flower's jars for her.

I have tried a few different methods for removing the sticky labels from the jars, and of all of them, the following method works the best for me:

1. Rinse the baby food jars and lids.
2. Place them in a large bowl in the sink or right in your sink.
3. Squirt 1-2 tablespoons of liquid castile soap (such as Dr. Bronner's) over the jars.
   
4. Turn on the hot water and add water until all the jars are completely covered.
   
5. Leave the jars in the water for at least 3 hours. Letting them sit overnight is best.
6. After at least 3 hours, take the baby food jars out of the water. The labels should rub right off.
7. If any adhesive still sticks to the jars, dab a drop or two of Eucalyptus essential oil on a cloth or cotton swab and rub on the adhesive.
8. Rinse and let the jars air dry, or run them through your dishwasher.

Go to Works for Me Wednesday on Rocks in My Dryer for all kinds of tips and tricks.