1. Glass jars for the pantry, the workshop and the fridge
Jam, pickle, pasta sauce and coffee jars are free, airtight, transparent and heatproof, which is exactly the specification of the storage containers people buy. The only thing standing between a used jar and a good one is the label and the smell.
Remove labels by soaking the jar in hot water with a squirt of washing-up liquid for twenty minutes. Most peel off whole. For stubborn adhesive residue, rub with a little cooking oil and bicarbonate of soda on a cloth, then wash — that combination removes almost any sticker glue and costs nothing.
Kill lingering smells by filling the jar with warm water and a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda and leaving it overnight, or by putting crumpled newspaper inside for a few days. A vinegar smell in a pickle jar lid usually means the seal has absorbed it; swap in a spare lid or use that jar for non-food items.
Then match jar to job. Wide-mouth jars suit pantry staples such as lentils, seeds and spices. Small jars are ideal in a shed or workshop for screws, nails, wall plugs and picture hooks — screw the lids to the underside of a shelf and the jars hang below it, visible and out of the way. Medium jars work for leftovers, overnight oats, salad dressings and freezer portions.
Two safety notes. Do not freeze liquids in a jar with sloping shoulders or fill any jar more than three-quarters, because ice expands and cracks the glass at the shoulder. And do not reuse commercial jars for water-bath home preserving, since the lids are single-use and will not seal reliably.