A messy pantry can be a pain to organize especially if you have a big household! While you can always buy plastic bins to stow away your kitchen essentials, that would mean spending more on organizers than you should.
Thankfully, you can upcycle certain items in your home as pantry organizers. There are no downsides to upcycling – you’re giving unused items that would otherwise end up on landfills, a new lease on life. Are you ready to tidy up the pantry and squeezing more room for kitchen and home essentials? Here are eco-friendly tips for organizing the pantry:
Use Old Boxes as Storage Bins
Why spend good money on plastic bins when cardboard boxes make a perfectly good alternative? Thick, sturdy cardboard boxes will last for years, and they’re great space savers too. You can use different cardboard boxes for storing and organizing your pantry items – shoe boxes, cereal boxes, soda boxes; you name it. Sure, cardboard boxes do not look as nice as plastic bins, but you can get creative with the boxes and make your pantry look neat and pretty. You can paint it, add labels, and cut the cardboard boxes to elevate the look of the space.
Sauce Jars as Serving Glasses or Mugs
Do not throw the jars that sauces come in! These jars could be repurposed in so many ways. Just take the label off, save the cap, and use these as drinking glasses or flower vases. With the cap, you can reuse the glass jars for storing everything from grains to candies, nuts to beans. This tip applies to specific items sold in glass jars, like coffee creamer, instant coffee, pasta sauces, etc. The possibilities are endless.
Wine Crates as Rolling Bins
Wine crates make the best storage bins, especially bulky, heavy pantry essentials that do not fit in your pantry shelves like cooking oil, syrup, sodas, juices, etc. You can use the wine crates as they are or get a little creative so they’ll look better in the pantry. You can paint the crates a nice muted color, attach caster wheels on each side, and voila, you have a rolling storage bin!
Magazine Holders as Compact Organizers
Got loads of magazine holders that you no longer use? Dust ‘em up, set them side by side on your pantry shelves, and turn them into storage for small items in the pantry – spice bottles, dried herbs, packets of nuts, eggs, etc. Instead of small items overtaking spaces on the shelves, they’ll be neatly stacked in the magazine holders. These magazine holders are big enough to hold bulky items too; we’re talking about water bottles, jars of sauces, condiment bottles, sauce packets, bags of seasonings, and so much more.
Coffee Containers as Dried Goods Storage
Coffee comes in these massive containers, and people just throw them away. Don’t! These coffee jars are made from durable plastic, and when reused, they will last for years. You can repurpose the coffee containers as storage for all sorts of pantry essentials, coffee pods, spice packets, seasoning baggies, etc. Use these to store dried foods like grains, nuts, etc. Really, you’ll never run out of things to use these coffee containers for. And if you don’t like how they look, get your craft paint and start painting and adding labels.
Plastic Jugs as Plastic Bag Dispenser
Do you reuse plastic bags? You should; plastic bags are some of the most common items that clog landfills. They end up in the sea where they destroy marine life too! If you’ve been collecting plastic bags for later use but hate how they’re all over the place, you can turn a water jug into a plastic bag dispenser. Just cut the bottom of the jug with a box cutter and mount it on a wall upside down. Remove the lid cover. Every time you unpack groceries, put the plastic bags into the container. Every time you need a plastic bag, you can simply pull the bottom of the water jug.
Organizing your pantry doesn’t have to mean spending a small fortune on coordinated organizers. With these eco-friendly tips (and a little creativity!), you can tidy up even the most cluttered pantry and transform it into an organized space for your kitchen essentials.
For more tips to help you make earth-friendly choices, check out our blog.
