10 Cent Spice Jars

Ok, at first this may seam like a rather mundane post, but I promise I do have point. I am excited about my new spice jars, it's something rather simple but I greatly enjoy them. They seal better than any others I have seen, and the mouth of each jar is just the right size. My measuring spoons fit right down in so there is no trying to shake the stuff into the spoon. To put it simply, they are attractive to the eye, and they work properly.

Now, these are not actually sold as spice jars, when I bought them they had candles in them. They were 10 cents a piece, and the candles actually burnt better than most I've seen. At first I just bought a couple of candles for the smell, they were pumpkin spice scented. But one day I was doing dishes and had one burning next to the sink and noticed how nice the shape was. Now in my family if something had only one purpose it better be really important. So instantly I thought spice jars, I had been looking for a better set anyway.

So when the first one was done burning I cleaned out the leftover wax, washed, and sterilized it. The first herb that I tried in it was cumin, because when closed, if you can't smell cumin then they are sure to be properly sealed. Sure enough they worked perfect. So with a price of 10 cents, I was sure to buy many more the next time I went to the store.

Now this is where my point comes in. While I was filling my shopping basket with candles a woman said to me, "Boy, you must really like candles!" To witch I replied, "Yes, but these will become my spice jars after the candles are done." She then said, " How did you think of that? That's really cool." And I went on to say that it's just re-purposing. To witch she said, "What's that mean?"

I have a question, when did re-purposing become a new idea? I mean every generation of women in my family, and countless others, had a firm grasp of the idea. For the entire modern era, up to a couple of decades ago, people had to do this. The general public did not have the money to go buy a new item for every little task. I mean it's the same thing as using an empty can from some green beans as your bacon grease container, or to catch the drips from your outdoor grill. It seams as though people have forgotten alot of the things that our ancestors taught us. Things that allowed them to have things that ordinarily they wouldn't have had.

I hope that with the masses finally waking up to the fact that creating a sustainable environment is paramount to maintaining life as we know it, that they will remember this old method of recycling. It is ideas such as this that will help us minimize our footprints on this rock we call home.