My Love Affair With Mason (Jars That Is!)...

I will confess, that I have developed a teensy weensy addiction to hoarding collecting Mason jars (this is in addition to my subconscious fear of running out of clothes hangers, as Heather found out when she helped me move last fall. I hold on to weird things I know, but I digress... :Þ).

It started off a few weeks ago when I came out of my winter fog, looked at my kitchen cupboards and pantry and was completely horrified at the amount of plastic I had accumulated without even realizing it. Little things like all my dry goods stored in zip lock bags, plastic containers piled up  from the dollar store for the kids snacks and what not. Everywhere I looked in my kitchen there was plastic, plastic, PLASTIC. Not only that, to add insult to my injured eco-ego, it was all a complete cluttered disorganized mess. I realized something needed to be done!
The beauty of mason jars is you don't need to save them just for canning. Oh no my friends, they can be used for soooooooooooo much more!

The little tiny ones that are about 125ml (or 1/2 cup) are fantastic for snacks, even for the kids. Not only are they sturdy but you don't need to worry about crappy chemicals leaching into your food. Yes, they are glass but it really does take a lot for them to break. They've been dropped on our hardwood floor and are still intact with nary a scratch or crack to be found. I am all for stainless steel food storage containers and other adorable eco friendly options that are out there, but we are on a very strict budget and I needed something more inexpensive to hold the kids snacks that was chemical free and also leak proof. I was able to find 12 half cup (125 ml) little jars at Safeway a few weeks back for $12.99! That works out to $1.13 per container tax included. Not bad for an eco friendly, plastic free option if I do say so myself!

The bigger ones of course are even better for storing dry goods (in addition to being used for canning) and not only that, everything looks so much prettier stored in Mason jars then in say, ugly plastic containers. Again, 12 one litre jars for 15 bucks is a very inexpensive plastic free storage option. Just thinking about it makes me giddy!! :D

I spent part of my afternoon today taking pictures of my messy, disheveled cupboards and pantry and then studiously switching all my dry goods to my fabulous Mason jars with the whole intent of course, of sharing my before and after pics with you. Of course Murphy's law would say, that if you have great pictures to share on your blog about your transformation to organized, domestic, eco friendly bliss, chances are your computer won't download them off your camera. ARGH. So you will have to wait, but I promise it will be worth it! Eco Diva I may be, Domestic Diva not so much, but I'm working on getting the two inner "divas" to meet somewhere in the middle...eventually. ;o)

Unfortunately, people often assume that being eco friendly and/or environmentally conscious requires the ability to spend a lot of money. That really couldn't be further from the truth! So that being said, what are your favourite ways to be environmentally friendly/aware while not breaking the bank to do it?

I hope everyone is having a great week so far! If you haven't had a chance to donate to the earthquake relief efforts in Japan and South Asia, please click over to our post from last week to read more about ways to help out and give back. ♥

With love and light,