9 Useful Ways To Reuse Containers From Aldi

Reduce, reuse, recycle. We all get that nagging voice in the back of our heads — the one that tells us "don't throw away old condiment bottles and jars." Since the word "reuse" comes before "recycle" in the adage, it's a good practice to reuse items as much as you can. If you shop at Aldi, you're in luck: Many of your groceries are packaged in containers that can be very useful around the house. Vases, pet treat containers, even crafty decorations — it's amazing how much you can do with what might otherwise be considered a recyclable item (or worse, trash).

Whether you're being thrifty or just conscientious about your contributions to the world's landfills, it's never a bad idea to come up with a second use for a product — especially all of those grocery store containers from when you buy food. Be sure to also check out our guide for how to remove stubborn stickers from food jars, since the issue of overly sticky adhesive is a scourge. Here are some of our favorite ways to reuse packaging from Aldi.

Introducing some plants around the house can be a real mood booster. Whether you're a gardener or simply appreciate flowers, Aldi pasta sauce jars are useful for anyone who needs more fresh foliage. You can even fill a jar with soil and start seedlings in these things. Just remember that jars don't have drainage holes, so you'll have to be careful not to overwater. This method also works for propagating herbs, meaning there's a culinary benefit to this practice as well.

Don't feel like growing your own herbs? These jars are also great for keeping fresh herbs you purchased at the grocery store. For store-bought herbs, simply add an inch of water to the bottom of the jar. Place the herbs in with the stem side down. Stored this way, herbs can last for weeks in your fridge.

Aldi pasta jars also make for great vases. The jars are tall enough to handle large cut flowers, and hold plenty of water. Keep a bunch of old jars around, and you'll never be caught unprepared if someone surprises you with a bouquet.

If you're the type of person who prefers storing flour, grains, sugar, and other bulk pantry items in clear containers, there's no need to drop a bunch of cash on fancy containers. Shop at Aldi, and your pantry storage needs can be solved one chips-and-salsa party at a time. Casa Mamita salsa jars can either be tall and skinny or squat and rotund, meaning you can snag a variety of sizes for different items. The best pantry organization system is the one that works for you, so mix and match salsa jars as much as you want.

Since the best way to organize your pantry is up to you to determine, the possibilities are endless. Anything you buy in bulk can be poured into a glass jar for easier access and more stylish organization. If you bake frequently, consider storing sugar and different flours in these big jars. Make a lot of soups and stews? Keeping dried pasta or legumes like chickpeas and black beans in jars makes for easier scooping with measuring cups. If you're the opposite of a morning person, keep coffee grounds in a big jar instead of the bag you bought at the store, and see if fewer spilled grounds end up on your counter.

Wine bottles are slim, elegant, and designed to please the eye. There's no reason the bottle needs to be filled with wine to maintain those qualities, either. An empty wine bottle is a decoration waiting to happen. While there might be some science behind your wine bottle's color, all we're talking about here is aesthetics. Empty wine bottles can be used as vases, candles, or even wedding reception centerpieces. Aldi's got a pretty great wine selection too, meaning you can get your hands on lots of different types of bottles.

There are a lot of opportunities for customizing wine bottles. Maybe you want to keep the label on because you like the namesake winking owl on Aldi's Winking Owl brand wines. Maybe you want to remove the label from a Landkastel Mosel Riesling and let that hypnotizing blue color be the star of the show. Maybe you want to paint a wine bottle, or tie ribbons around it, or otherwise bedazzle the thing. Some intentionality with your wine bottle decor is a good thing. There's a fine line between thoughtful decoration and having a house full of empty booze receptacles. A little care and craft can help take the look from sloppy to chic.

Aldi's jarred sauerkraut not only tastes great, but it also comes in a sturdy, stylish jar. It's 24 ounces, with thick glass and a smart-looking blue gingham lid. Such a jar practically demands reuse. We found Redditors who use these jars for things like infusing liquor or making quick salad dressings, but our favorite use for leftover jars is refrigerator pickles. Since pickling mixed veggies all at once isn't the best idea, it's a good idea to save your old sauerkraut jars.

Using the jar as the vessel here is important. Quick pickling is not the same as canning, so whatever you pickle won't be good past a few weeks. Still, it's an easy way to pack a burst of flavor into veggies like onions, cucumbers, or even napa cabbage. A basic brine of three parts water, two parts vinegar, and one part sugar is a good starting place, plus a tablespoon of salt for every cup of vinegar. Boil all of that, pour it into a jar, add veggies and any spices you want, and boom: pickled veggies. You didn't even have to buy a new jar.

Finished that oven roasted turkey breast? Send that dishwasher safe container through the wash, and you've got a free Tupperware container. Peel the label off of the top first, or else your dishwasher will do it for you. Plastic containers like this obviously have a number of uses for food storage. In all likelihood, you've got some containers like this holding leftovers in your fridge right now. The great thing about reusing a deli meat container from Aldi is the fact that you're turning a single-use plastic into a multi-use plastic.

Maybe you've already got plenty of containers, though. Maybe you have so many that the lids spill out every time you open the kitchen cabinet. Even if your storage space is at capacity, it's still possible to reuse a newly emptied turkey container. Some people online said that they used these tubs as lunch boxes. One Reddit user said that these were containers that she would use to give food as gifts or take-home portions after a party. Even if you don't want to reuse every deli meat container you buy, saving the things up for your next cookout or potluck might be the move. After all, every time you buy deli meat means another free container.

Any sturdy tin can is a blank canvas for the crafty kitchen organizer. Something like Beaumont classic coffee – regular or decaf — will give you a good 11-ounce can to work with. Our recommendation? A utensil holder. Your cooking instruments have to go somewhere, and a large tin next to the stove is a handy place to stash those spatulas and tongs. When we covered old-school kitchen tools that celebrity chefs swear by, Martha Stewart made the list for recommending antique crocks to hold utensils. Martha's got an eye for style, but her recommendation means having access to antiques. We're here to tell you that you can get a beautiful utensil holder for the price of a can of coffee and a little paint.

This is another craft where it might be helpful to mine the Aldi Finds aisle. Some seasonal items can have special containers that look really nice with just a little bit of sprucing up. Acrylic or spray paint works best on a tin coffee can, so stock up on those and channel your inner artist.

This reusable hack depends on a seasonal item, so be on the lookout during the winter holiday months. Aldi's private-label pastilles candy comes in a nice glass jar, complete with a flourish of ribbon around the top. Eat those Christmas candies, wash the jar, and suddenly you have a new dog treat container. Or at least that's what one Facebook user did, and the photo that they posted looks so natural that it's hard to imagine anything besides dog treats ever occupying that jar.

Plenty of people online will point out that a good glass jar is its own prize. That's a good point, and maybe an indication of why Aldi seems to break out the really great containers for seasonal items. The jar that Aldi's Christmas mix pastilles candy comes in is easy to open and seals nicely, and that aforementioned ribbon is pretty stylish. There are plenty of uses for a jar like that. We still suggest thinking of Fido first.

It's easy and fun to try different pre-made spice blends. Grab a 5.5-ounce Stonemill seaside seafood seasoning for salmon night, and it'll wake that fish right up. Another easy and fun choice is making your own spice blends. Mixing up your own stuff can help you break out of culinary ruts, and can activate the creative part of your brain. When you run out of a pre-made blend that you've enjoyed, try recreating it with spices you already have on the rack. The old container is perfect for the new creation. Even better, the ingredient list remains a handy reference point as you adjust your recipe.

Spices that come in glass jars make for an excellent container, but the plastic ones are reusable too. Using old spice jars also means your new spice mixture has a shakeable top — the better to sprinkle your food with. If you're curious about how to get started mixing spice blends, be sure to check out our important tips to keep in mind when creating spice blends. Even if you don't end up making your own spice blends, another thrifty approach is to keep old spice containers, and then buy new spices in bulk to save money.

Need a cardboard box? Chances are that you do. Maybe you need a weed cover for a flower bed, maybe you're moving. A more everyday use is storage — especially storage that doesn't have to be aesthetically appealing. Think of organizing garages or sheds more than living and dining rooms. If you walk the aisles of Aldi, you'll see plenty of cardboard boxes. To save time, the chain doesn't unload items from boxes to stack on shelves. It's a move made for practicality over prettiness, and you can benefit from it.

Here's an Aldi secret you'll wish you knew sooner: When those boxes empty out, you can use them to transport your groceries. That's right — grab a cardboard box that used to hold, say, packages of celery stalks, and it's now yours. One person claiming to be an Aldi employee on Reddit recommended looking in the produce and chip aisles for empty boxes. A quick word of caution, however: different types of bugs love cardboard. That's probably not an issue when grabbing one from your local Aldi, but once the box is in your house, be sure to check regularly to ensure that you're insect-free.