I think only americans are NOT like that. Lol. In Europe is pretty common to reuse what you have first, recycle second EDIT: jesus, people, stop assuming what I am assuming. Lol. Of course it is a generalisation from what I see on the internet. I'm sure there are people in Europe who throw away everything and people in the States who recycle or reuse.
I'm from Brazil and my mom always asks us to not trow away plastic bottles so we can re-use it as bottles to put juice inside, she also was using the sugar jar to put salt, and the salt jar to put sugar
The fruit peels were a great tip. Thank your Dad for me. I only bought jars once; when I moved cross country & had to throw out anything I couldn't carry in my truck. I haven't bought any new jars since. LOL. My Mom used to make me textbook covers out of brown paper grocery bags. Anything that needed tying was tied with old bakery twine.
I reuse jars a lot. But I’ve learned to not save EVERY jar. Years ago, I practically saved every jar I ever bought, and that just becomes impractical after a while.
In USA, Most people who went thru ww2 or earlier reused or repurposed everything. I still do a lot of what I learned from them. Bet they would have loved the pot warmer/thermos.
I'm Mexican and I feel like wer so similar except MY mom probably would have made some ridiculous short sleeved vest out of that ripped jacket and then make me wear it to school to humiliate me 😂
Reminds me of my boyfriend not believing that there were cookies in the butter cookie tin. He asked, "why do you have a sewing kit in the kitchen?" They were actual cookies, my mom repurposed an old tool box for her sewing so we never had that problem.
My mom stores frozen herbs in ice cream containers. It's always a disappointment when you want some ice cream and you open it up only to find frozen dill or parsley inside
I once made seafood stock and put in a apple juice bottle and wrote not apple juice. My stepdaughter clearly didn't read my note. She took a big swig of it and came running to tell me the apple juice had gone really bad. I couldn't stop laughing.
So true! Rubber bands should be saved forever apparently. Baggies can be turned inside out, washed and then left to dry in multiples all over the kitchen counters. Lol
My great grandparents. My grandparents had to empty out their house when they left us, and they found tons and tons of unused, unopened, with tag on, clothes and shoes and other things that were of course never used. They were things they had gotten as gifts
They do it out of habit. When you come from meager backgrounds, as most of us have, you learn to reuse and repurpose everything. Back then, they couldn't buy new things when their belongings broke. They had to either fix it, or repurposed it. Everything is made so cheaply that we are able to throw things away and buy new ones. We have become wasteful and materialistic in these times we live in.
For my mom it is not about being able to buy, it's a conscious decision to not let anything go to waste. And it is about sustainability for her. The amount of plastic local supermarkets produce is astounding. In Ukraine you generate about a third of plastic waste compared to Spain, living roughly the same lifestyle.
I even recycle my Greek Yoghurt containers. I use the lids for mixing Gouache blends or use them for watercolour crayons blending. Then use my paintbrushes to paint whatever I'm working on. I reuse glass jars for homemade sauces, etc. We used to reuse bread bags when we packed our shoes in suitcases for trips. Also for wet beachwear, too.
We also try to appear uniformed in our style. I have those small spice bottles, but I wont throw away because they are all different. I have big spice containers too. They don’t look pretty, round, square, glass, plastic. A lot of people do throw away.
Famous childhood trauma: the hidden sewing kit 😂 It's always the Danish Butter cookie tin too! I'm still worried every time I find one in the house if it's the sewing kit or actual cookies! 🍪
My great aunt has an entire drawer of cool whip, I can’t believe it’s not butter, country crock, sour cream, and other plastic food containers. She uses them to store leftovers, as well as send them home with people. She’s 77 and still cooks 3 meals a day, cleans the house, and takes care of 40 chickens. I hope I have as much energy as her when I’m her age lol
@@heehoopeanut420 I miss my Mamaw and her mashed taters and green bean casserole. Her cooking secrets are real butter, lard, and bacon grease. I'm amazed her and grandpa lived to their late 70s
I do that now, repurpose jelly jars, pickle jars, butter bowls i use for starting new plants…i always hated when i was growing up, finding gravy or something other than butter. Jars are used for storage, like nails and screws. I just attach the lid to the bottom of a shelf in my garage and can unscrew the jar to access whatever’s in there
This would be ALL moms no matter where they live will do this INCLUDING in the U.S. has NOTHING to do with being an IMMIGRANT and EVERYTHING to do with income level.
Love this. All of this. I hack the hack by only buying things in pretty packaging the first time, then using the same group of jars for a particular thing. Olive oil mayo has pretty green lids, so they became a collection of containers for craft supplies in the craft closet. The hexagon jam and honey jars are for loose tea. The nutbutter jars are for dry baking goods because they have a wide mouth and measurement cups fit. I de-label them and make em pretty. You CAN spraypaint the lids if you want to get super fancy. But yeah, the fridge is also full of questionably labelled stuffs at my mom's house too lol. 😂
my mom's like this too, result is that i have a hard time throwing out empty jars because i keep thinking there'll be a use for it. it extends to all other things too - old (clean) socks are kept so i can use it to wipe things, i have boxes and stuff to organize drawers. the problem, tho, is that i just end up hoarding a lot of things that i legit have no use for (like...keeping 20 empty jars when i never need that many). *sigh*
when you grow up with grandparents who lived through the depression and a world war, parents raised in coal mining and pastor families, and you yourself raised in a missionary family- yeah, the struggle is Real
I have finally bought REAL Tupperware for myself .. me .. I .. lol .. sending leftovers home - you get an ice cream tub! NO one (except my dear neighbour) gets the Tupperware. lol
Hey!! if you get food in one of those kind of containers you know it's going to be epic👍☮️ no matter what might be in that container- you can be assured it's SOUL food ☺️
Hey, the fabulous chef, Jacques Pépin, stores his leftovers in a wide-rimmed plastic container which he freezes. Then he just cuts the container & puts the frozen scraps in a stew pot to make stock. Brilliant; everything is in one container, in the freezer, & you don't even have to defrost it.
Until recently I wasn’t aware that those mini eclairs that come in the square plastic box were like a real obtainable thing. I had only ever seen them as containers for leftovers.
@@SundaysChild1966 I'm a Pyrex fan for baking to refrigerator usage. I bought 4 Pyrex dishes (2 came with their own covers) 21 yrs ago & they are as good as new. I do save glass jars & have some Tupperware to store other things in but they don't last as long as the Pyrex & you can't cook them in the oven, only the microwave.
Once we kids moved out, my mother began using masking tape and a sharpie pen to write the contents of the tubs lol. We all demanded to know why it happened when we moved out as she had caused us so much trauma in our childhood never being sure what we were going to find when we opened a container lol. We never had ice cream, so at least we were spared that disappointment lol.
@@SGpre75 It didn’t really have a strong scent to it. Maybe because it had kind of coagulated on the surface but when it started sliding down into my mouth, I smelled it and realized my mistake too late.
My grandmother kept all plastic bags, corks, plastic wrap etc and reused them. She grew up during the great depression so it was her way of life. She was a sustainable queen. I would love to know more about her when I was adult, she passed when I was a teenager. People older than us have amazing stories and wisdom.
Same here. Grandma n Mom always had old fat in an old food can. Washed & saved tinfoil. Passed down generations. I have a glass jar of bacon grease in my fridge right now! 😁
My grandmother did same. Comes from the great depression being a war bride being on rations with a rations book and being born at the turn of a century
@@jaegrant6441 you know our ancestors did all of that during the world War 1 and 2 and the depression before you young whippersnappers ever came up with new fandangled fancschmancy terms for it
As a child of immigrant plastic container was called “Tupperware” even though none were. I don’t reuse plastic containers but my fridge and cupboards are filled with reused glass jar. We even use them as drinkware. In the summer it’s great to have a lid for your drink to keep out the tiny bugs.
My parents also reuse biscuit and candy jars. Another thing is that when there's an upcoming occassion where we need to roast a whole chicken. My dad would encourage me to not throw away the peel of any citrus fruit. Instead he wanted me to put it in the freezee so he can save it so he can use this to add aroma to the chicken while it's being roasted. He puts them inisde the chicken when before he turns on the turbo.
Don't ever go in the fridge for bitter and expect to find butter ☠🤣 6 tubs and several cus words later, its at the back of the fridge or worse in the door because its stick butter this time not tub🤣
BY GOLLY JEEE FUCKING JELLY BEANS I WONDER IF MAYBE IT JUST BECAUSE WE ARE HUMAN AND NOT OUR GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OR RACE........🙄🤮 THIS WORLD MAKES ME SICK
Hahaha same 😂 and now my kids are experiencing the same thing with me lol. When I visit my mom I get to take left overs in her random jars and containers and the best thing I don’t have to worry about returning it.
I come from puerto rico to america. I actually thought every culture did this. All the white people families i grew up with saved jars. Escpecially the margarine jars 😁
My Mexican mom uses a oats container to keep those plastics bags from the grocery store and y’all the container literally says it’s from 2010 which is when we moved to our current house 😭
lmaoo i love the immigrant reusing different containers thing bc i saw this growing up & unconsciously it's become a part of me. i love finding other containers to repurpose. i even decorate some of them 😭 i wanted to start actually buying some soon, but this short made me feel happy and proud to remember where i got this trait from 🙈
We can’t, things aren’t built to be reused these days, they’re literally built to break/fail/wear out so that we’re forced into buying new rather than fixing it.
@@01SaltyWitch That is true, I try very hard to create less waste, use what we have, repair, repurpose, compost etc. It is a uphill battle and feel a bit futile sometimes. Hope you are well. 🌻
Sometimes I wonder if my habit of collecting jars and cups are unhealthy and "hoarding" then I remember my mom who does the same and get reminded that this is normal
Lol, just had to help my parents move from one appartment to another in Spain, where everything you buy at a supermarket comes in some sort of a package, I was blown away by my mom's collection of every little jar, plastic container and wrapping imaginable just from the last 8 months she has spent here.
Your mom is like my Haitian mom lol. I buy more than $100 worth of jars to make my house organized and my husband laughs at me "why are you buying something that comes in a jar to put it in another jar" 🙃 😑
I'm brazilian and the jar thing is a staple of the brazilian houses too. Also reuse plastic bags you get buying groceries to put trash out cover your shoes when it's raining so they don't get wet ✌
I paint the labels so that the trauma of mixing things up never happens again 😂 I can’t forget the day I wanted apple juice and it turned out to be cooking oil 😅
Asian parents & grabs parents are the most sustainable people. My grandma NEVER throws away anything. She kept reusing every plastic bags she got from the store, even when they get dirty, she’d wash them and use them more.
Let her know those things will sell online these days! Many folks love that type of thing but do not know how to make it themselves or know anyone to make them. I have so many jars that I often crochet or macrame on them to make them look pretty. I started out doing it to make a couple of hanging candle holders, then on to making the storage jars on the shelves look a little more coordinated. Someone visited and loved the look but did not have the skills nor the inclination to learn them. She offered to buy them, and I periodically sell at farmers markets and craft fairs as well as online once in awhile. She could find herself making a load of money on the side to do something fun with. 😉
My friend told me (in the 1980s or 90s) her mom had made a teacozy that was such an intriguing shape -- and said it was because she had stuffed it with shoulder pads ! So clever, I thought. Fashions change ruthlessly; habit not so much.
@@shellyb7726 what a great idea! I have made a tea cozy using a pillow stuffing after I had laundered it. It was just to flat for sleeping in but was perfect for studding a tea cozy. When my favorite sweater finally began showing wear in the collar and sleeves, I pulled all the stitching out and used that to knit up a tea cozy outer. Now I reuse the yarn from my old sweaters or from charity shops if I like the color or thickness of the yarn. I like to recycle and reuse where I can. My mother always told me to worry about the pennies and the dollars would look after themselves. It was a necessity when I was growing up, 2 adults and 6 kids. But learning frugalness early on meant we were not only able to buy our second and final home, our dream home, with 3 acres of land on a Loch in Scotland, but we also did it without a mortgage, despite the pandemic causing house prices to jump. If my Mom were still alive I would move her over to Scotland where winters are warmer than northern Vermont and would thank her repeatedly for teaching me such useful skills…as a child I hated it and was embarrassed by much of it if friends came by, but as an adult, I am proud and grateful. Having land to grow our own food, I am looking forward to retirement to live up there permanently and sell the first house we bought when we got married. I was a teen in the 80’s, I remember how big and solid those shoulder pads were! 😂🤣 I can just imagine the intriguing shape! But they were so solid too I bet that tea cosy kept that tea lovely and hot for ages!
Mexican here, after a big party you’ll see everyone walk out with take home containers that have yummy food and aren’t even close to label descriptions lmao😂
I remember one time my brother wanted to grab some popcorn out of a popcorn bowl from the cinema but he didn’t know that our hispanic family ate all of the leftovers the day before so he grabbed into a mango juice that my grandma put into the bowl
South Louisiana French and Choctaw here. My Chinese friend asked me “What’s with the leftover jars?” I replied that if they get broken or stolen it’s no big deal. Better than plastic and the price is right.
I was raised like this, my version of rebellion was buying matching food containers for everything in my refrigerator, freezer and cupboard and then sending pictures to my parents 🤣
My mom (not Asian) did all of these...except the pot thermos. We still put our food garbage in the freezer to this day....we also sometimes use the citrus peels for the small garbages, bedrooms, and closets with cloves etc., and we us them to clean the sink.
Your mom is a true environmentalist for sure. We do the best 👌 👍 we can to save this way where possible. Subscribed to channel for more amazing videos 😍 👏.
It’s not really an immigrant thing. I’m 49 and it’s about being raised in a generation where buying containers wasn’t really a thing. The only containers you could buy when I was a kid were Tupperware and canning jars. They were not readily available in stores like they are now. You really didn’t save cooked food in the fridge in containers like people have been doing the last 15- 20 years. Eating out wasn’t an everyday thing, only for special occasions. When mom cooked it was all eaten. If you did have left over, you’d wrap it up in aluminum on a plate/pot or use those lil plastic bags. Because of this, if there was an empty jar, butter container, cookie tin or even cans, we would reuse them.
Ofc they know it's sustainable. That's the point lol. The older generation had to be, coming from less superfluity in life, so they had to be resourceful. Meanwhile we're busy shaming eachother for using straws and driving home in our 2nd new car in under 5 years (an exaggeration but you get the hypocrisy).
I’m not Asian or immigrant, but my family is the same way. I live in a rural area, and we’ve never really had financial stability (for generations in fact) so the “life hacks” get passed down. Jars, tubs, containers, everything is reused and we grow/jar a lot of things ourselves.
Raised by a Gran from the Great Depression. Same lifestyle as this. Even had a baggie of old bread ties because... something will eventually need to be twist tied together. 😂 Even had a box of yarn pieces. And 101 containers of butter in the fridge, but only one actually contained butter.
I'm white... from the mountain states... descendant of homesteaders on 3 sides (grandparents mom's mother was from Chicago but Grandpa taught her.) This is just the way things were done, once upon a time. What's old is new again!
I grew up that way. Norwegian Mom. They went thru the Depression, but were so poor it wasn't much different. My Grandmother came over when she was 16. I love canning once in my peanut butter jars. There is still enough sealant in those lids.
I’m Norwegian. I never buy jars. I have hundreds of empty, cleaned jars in case I need them 😂 And I always remove the label. By the way, jars are insane expensive here.
"Kids of immigrants will know...?" Like seriously nobody else reuses stuff? Some people seem to be thinking the way they know something to be has been wholly invented by them or their family. Jesus Christ save us.
Yup, immigrants are just different. My parents are polish and we’re exactly the same, my mom changed after my dad passed away, she started to splurge on things, mostly as a coping mechanism i think. As a kid, she sewed all our clothes when we were little from old fabric, everything was reused for something else, massive garden for food 😂
Yep my mom does this, i even did this for my accidentally 5lb bag of flour (suppose to be 3lbs). I had 2 big tamarind jars of suckers and when i was finished with them i clean the jars out and put the flour in.
