Wednesday, January 12, 2011

greencraft: tea jars


It took over 20 years. Now that's what you call procrastinating. I first saw this in a friend's kitchen way back, probably when Celestial still made Mo's 24, do you remember that? I am absolutely flabbergasted at how much I love this.  It's orderly, much easier to get a teabag, and the tea stays fresh. And you can see when you're running low. It costs basically nothing and saves money in the long run -- in fact, I shudder to think how many tea bags have gone to the compost. Sort of like composting dollar bills.

greencraft: tea jars

Here's how it began.

  Assorted boxes of tea, some probably growing old and stale
because, you know, that happens when you don't close the box just right.

      Gather jars -- these are former almond butter jars and a few quart jars.

                        Remove the tea bags from the box, then remove inner bag carefully --
                             save it because this can be reused for all kinds of food storage.
 
Cut the top of the box or whatever part shows the type of tea it is.

 This will be your new jar label

   Cut out and tape the ingredient list on the backside of the new label,
    you just know someone'll be allergic to something or you'll need to prove it
does or doesn't have caffeine!

 Insert label into jar, fill with tea bags and screw on top.
One down, many to go.

The inner liners are actually great for food storage -- they're food-safe, after all.
The photo shows cookies, but I've been mostly keeping opened-cheese packages in them,
that way the bags don't need much cleaning, although they can be
quickly rinsed or wiped out.

 The boxes can be recycled or stashed, notice the beautiful pattern
on the inside of one box -- I'm saving that.

Organized tea cupboard, every jar with fresh tea bags!

Also posted at Food Renegade's Fight-Back-Friday.

4 comments:

  1. A great idea if you use tea bags. I've been switching over to loose tea, and of course this is great storage for that too!

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  2. Hi Deb -- you just can't beat the basic jar for food storage!

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  3. Glass is great for tea storage. And thanks for the idea of recycling the inner bag for cheese, that works really well !

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  4. You're welcome, Cecile! And those inner bags hold up a long time -- they'd be great for sandwiches, too.

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