In the United States alone, more than 10 million tons of glass waste end up in our landfills every year, even though it’s a highly recyclable material.
One TikTok user recently shared a clever life hack for cleaning stickers off of glass jars in order to reuse them. The beauty of this little hack is that it only uses a few ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen cupboard.
Chelsea, better known as @chelslikescutefood on TikTok, shared her simple hack for removing stickers, labels, and other stuck-on substances from used glass jars.
In her video, she explained that if you want to reuse your glass jars, simply create an equal part mixture of oil and baking soda and rub it on the jar’s label. After a minute or so, the label should peel right off, along with any sticky residue underneath.
If the sticky residue is giving you issues, leave the oil and baking soda mixture on for a few hours, and it should wipe off with ease.
Chelsea’s simple little concoction is one for the books. It’s great for people who want to reuse jars that may have contained condiments or sauces yet don’t want to keep the same labels that they originally had. Even more unsightly is leaving the gross, sticky substance that’s left on the underside when you just rip the paper off.
Sure, you could use Ziploc bags or other things of the like, though that path is certainly not the most environmentally responsible one you could take. Those who want to try and reduce their carbon footprint and make their kitchens greener can take advantage of this hack and utilize reusable storage receptacles for their leftovers. Not only do these offer better, safer storage opportunities for food, but they also reduce the amount of plastic waste that we create.
The Environmental Protection Agency put out a recent report noting that less than 30% of packaging and glass containers when to recycling in 2018, meaning that around 70% ended up in our nation’s landfills. In essence, the more you use reusable glass containers, the less waste ends up in our landfills, polluting the environment and contributing to global warming.
Many TikTok users were ecstatic with Chelsea’s hack, one of which noted that they love saving their little pesto jars and being able to take the labels off is a lifesaver.
Another person wrote, “OMG. I had absolutely no idea that was possible.”
“I’m a huge fan of using these kinds of jars for my art supplies. I recommend using a scrubbing brush with rough bristles to make the job even easier,” said another.
If we want to reduce the number of jars that end up in our landfills, it’s important that we start promoting recycling awareness now and participating in these kinds of reuse activities whenever possible. In doing so, we can take one step closer to creating a green world.
