I have a thing about containers, I think. I was tipped off recently when I bought a pump bottle of hand soap, even though I didn’t need it. The deal was: the container was a perfect ball, clear, and had no label. Essentially I bought the container to use to put in my soap bits, and the soap inside is a bonus. I love the idea of my miscellaneous soap bits being in this cute little label-less ball. The soap was ninety nine cents, no splurge, but since I didn’t need soap I had questioned why I had bought it.
I hadn’t really fully thought out how much I love reusable containers. My shampoo and conditioner are in nice thick plastic well shaped pump bottles…I periodically refill them. It’s not at all about looking like I have a certain brand that I don’t, though I suppose that some people may think I actually buy fancy shampoo. (I got it in a gift basket last February.)
My favorite, cheapest dish soap comes in a screw top bottle. I pour it into a nice old squeeze top bottle.
Most of my dry bulk foods are in Red Vine licorice tubs, big peanut butter jars, or canning jars-depends on size. I like this for consistency-a nice simple look. I prefer bulk buying for these items (flour, milk, nuts, so forth) not only because they are usually cheaper, for less packaging. If it’s not packaging I’m gonna cherish, I don’t want it.
If I’m looking at getting salsa or ice cream or something, I actually take the packaging into account-not whether it’s eye-catching, but whether it comes in a nice reusable plastic tub with a lid that seals well. And lately, clear is also a bonus-cottage cheese tubs can make things harder to see in the freezer, so I’m always on the look out for clear. Best is when the label on the clear tub is one that will peel off easily.
I spent an extra nickel on a bunch of yogurts just to get the cup with a lid, so I could reuse for gelatin and other lunch snacks.
I got really excited about a free sample of hairspray…because it meant a free small pump bottle to put Fabreeze in for travelling. Another free sample hair spray actual contains hair spray that I refill periodically.
At work a lot of people know I like Red Vine tubs, the big ice cream plastic tubs, and other large tubs. I don't stock pile tons of them, but it's nice to be able to grab a new one when an odl one wears out.
(There were some mini-éclairs at Costco for a while that came in a tall, square white tub. I loved them for potlucks….a nice deep container that held plenty of food, used fridge space well, since they were square not round, and could be left at someone’s house with no worry of how to get it back.) I accept them all to keep them coming-some things I do just recycle right away, so the only benefit is to the landfill, and that’s fine with me.
There were some envelopes at work that came in “good” lidded boxes, then we started getting “bad” flimsy tear open boxes. It really threw me for a loop. The nice black boxes with white and black lids were so handy, for gifts and other things. I’m not sure anyone else noticed the change.
A small bottle of conditioner caught my eye recently...fifty cents wasn’t a great deal on the conditioner, but along with the perfectly sized travel bottle (larger than sample, much smaller than regular) that seals perfectly I felt good about it.
This container fetish has clearly been building over time. My plan is for this to be good resource use, and not a weird creepy habit, as I grow older.
I Have a Thing
November 23rd, 2006 at 08:09 am
November 23rd, 2006 at 01:03 pm 1164286985
and ditto on needing cleaer containers for leftovers: makes it much easier to use what's there rather than pulling them all out and checking under the lid.
November 23rd, 2006 at 04:34 pm 1164299652
November 23rd, 2006 at 06:51 pm 1164307917
we went thru a short period where we ate tons and tons of salsa and we ended up collecting the glass jars which are tall cylinders... now we use them to store certain bulk goods up on the ledge above our kitchen cabinets... i like them because they give a uniform look and we can always see what's inside them...
November 24th, 2006 at 07:01 am 1164351704
November 24th, 2006 at 05:15 pm 1164388504
i also happen to know that a friend of mine uses old glass jars from black currant jelly (or whatever it's called in english), to serve dessert in. they look great & noone would figure.
i like to save different kinds of plastic containers as well, esp those for icecream as they are great to freeze left-overs in. although i don't buy icecream that often anymore, since i've realized it costs just as much to make your own but that tastes nicer, with real cream etc. so i'm considering to ask my friends for their containers now, haha.
November 26th, 2006 at 04:54 am 1164516896