Reusing your coffee jar

If you've ever looked at your empty NESCAFÉ jars and asked yourself, "How do you reuse a coffee jar?" you're in the right place. There's so much more you can do than just recycling - and even then, NESCAFÉ jars and lids are 100% recyclable. So, whether you use them for crafting or storage, there’s so much potential in every empty NESCAFÉ jar. Here are some ideas for repurposing the NESCAFÉ jar before you recycle it.

MAKE THE PANTRY PRETTY

NESCAFÉ jars are excellent containers for all sorts of dry goods like rice or pasta, are mostly airtight, and keep out moths and mites - so those dry goods stay protected and don't spoil. You can paint or decorate your jars with chalkboard paint or anything else you feel like getting creative with - different coloured paints to add pops of colour to your kitchen, or simply tie some string with a tag around the bottle's neck to label the contents. You can also store utensils in your empty jars – spatulas and spoons. The possibilities are endless.

A PALACE FOR PLANTS

The possibilities for an empty NESCAFÉ jar are endless. With a bit of plant soil and perlite, you’ve got the perfect home for a small succulent plant, like a cactus. You could even decorate your garden with the glass jar pot plants.

STATIONERY STATION

You could even create a place to hold all of your pencils, pens, paintbrushes, or other stationery to help you organise your desk at home or at work. You can easily use paint, decorative paper, or even glued-on photographs to decorate your new pencil holder to suit your personal style, or create something bright and beautiful for your kids to keep their stationery in one neat place.

GIVE GIFTS IN GLASS JARS

Perhaps you have too many succulents left over from an earlier crafting experiment, or you can plant some flowers into a jar filled with soil and give them away as gifts. Or you could do something fun and special like putting a meaningful photo of you and a friend in an empty jar, and add some other items that contribute to a special memory. This is also a lovely way to keep your own special memories, or decorate your home.

PREPARE SPECIAL RECIPES FOR A LOVED ONE

Because NESCAFÉ jars seal hermetically (meaning they're airtight), you could do something special for someone close to you and prepare a recipe in a jar. For example, you could put all the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies into an empty NESCAFÉ jar. Then, with some of that chalkboard paint from earlier, you could paint a space where you could write out the recipe. Or, because we've got so many NESCAFÉ recipes for you to try, you could make it easier for your loved ones to enjoy coffee in a whole new way by preparing all the ingredients for a coffee recipe in a jar with the instructions.

WE HAVEN’T FORGOTTEN THE LITTLE ONES

You could do all the above as crafting activities with the kids! All of them are fun and easy enough for even a toddler to enjoy. But let’s think about what else you could do. How about turning a jar into a custom piggy bank? Just cut a hole in the lid, get your kids to decorate them the way they want, and let them start saving. You could even make sensory jars – pour some water, food colouring, oil and glitter or confetti into a jar, glue the lid shut, and let your children experience the shapes and colour changes in the jar. Remember to make sure that the lid is glued tightly shut to prevent spills and messes, and to prevent your little ones from opening the sensory jars.

How do you use glass jars in the garden?

At some point, you've looked at your empty NESCAFÉ jars and wondered "How do you use glass jars in the garden?" We've got you covered with a few ideas, like creating a softly lit pathway, by filling empty jars with fairy lights, sealing them tightly with the lid, and putting them in the garden. You can also use some string or twine to hang the light-filled jars from trees, or over an outside table for soft, ambient lighting on summer evenings.

Start a nursery using NESCAFÉ lids as seed sprouting trays with some damp cotton wool, and using the empty NESCAFÉ glass jars to prepare young blooms for transplanting into your garden, or store seeds for flower patches or vegetables in your empty NESCAFÉ glass jars. The plastic lids seal hermetically, meaning your seeds will be fully protected from moisture for ages.

You could even plant your favourite flowers, or small bushes like chili and tomato plants in an upcycled NESCAFÉ jar, and create a small garden section on your balcony, or create a glass jar nursery corner in your garden.

THAT’S NOT ALL

These were just a few simple ideas – like we said earlier, the possibilities are endless! We’d love to see what else you can create. Have fun, and share where your imagination takes you.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How do you reuse a coffee jar?

There are countless ways to reuse your empty NESCAFÉ coffee jars. You can use them as a vase with some flowers to beautify your home, or as storage for dry goods like rice or pasta. Your little ones can also get in on the fun by upcycling an empty NESCAFÉ coffee jar into a piggy bank.

Are NESCAFÉ jars recyclable?

Yes! Did you know that glass is infinitely recyclable? If you'd prefer to reuse or "upcycle" your empty NESCAFÉ jars, take a look at some of the easy, exciting ways to give your NESCAFÉ jar a new purpose. The lids are also made of recyclable plastic, but should be recycled separately to the jars.

Using NESCAFÉ glass jars in the garden

Here are a few simple ways to beautify your garden while reusing and upcycling your empty NESCAFÉ jars.
- Create some soft lighting by putting fairy lights into your jars and hanging them from trees.
- Store seeds for flowers or vegetables in your empty jars. They're airtight, so seeds will remain dry and ready for planting.
- Use your empty jars as flower pots and create a garden section on your balcony.