I know we're all up to our eyeballs in Mason jars right now, it being the height of canning and pickling season and all. But besides using these beautiful and simple jars for jams and salsas and other preserves, do you consider using them for storage?

I love garage sale season! I scour the sales for old Mason jars (the ones with the glass tops) and fill them up with my lentils, barley, quinoa, icing sugar ... whatever. They look very pretty on display with a wide array of colourful goods stored inside. Plus, they're far better for your health than plastic. When using plastic we have to worry about BPA, antimony, dioxins and other harmful chemicals that can leach into your food. Glass jars and bottles don't give off any chemicals when in contact with food. Also, glass is far easier to recycle than plastic.

Don't worry if you've missed out on garage sale season, you can usually find Mason jars at antique stores for a reasonable price.

And don't look past those little glass jars in your fridge. Caper, Dijon mustard, artichoke and other small jars are perfect for storing spices and small amounts of leftovers.

What do you use for storage?

Recently, a reader e-mailed me and asked: When buying pop, is it more environmentally friendly to buy it in plastic bottles or aluminum cans?

In doing some research on the Internet, I found some (more...)

It's going to be a quick one today. I read in today's Globe and Mail (find the article here) that a major bottled-water company will be voluntarily implementing a 25-cent deposit on half-litre bottles in parts of Canada (B.C., Ontario and the Maritime provinces). According to the article, this secret company is responding to all the people who complain of those who litter and do not recycle the plastic bottles. This deposit will add a whopping $6 to a pack of 24 water bottles. I hope that's enough to make people stop buying bottled water in areas where the tap water is perfectly drinkable.

I must admit, I'm curious to see which "major" company is introducing the deposit.

Check out my previous post on bottles water here and here

Read more:
• 10 ways to conserve water in your home

A while ago, we featured a craft created by one of our readers. It's called Plastic bag craft: Two crocheted tote bags. This craft is a perfect way to use up old plastic shopping bags as you crochet them into useful, cute totes. One of our readers, Linda Steger from Prince George, B.C., loved the idea of recycling plastic bags (that would otherwise sit in landfills for years and years) and turning them into something useful.

Here's her plastic bag story:
"It started when a friend of mine who lives in Mackenzie, B.C. told me about the pattern. I thought it sounded like a great idea and she mailed me a copy.

After I had made my first bag, I made a posted a sign asking my neighbours if they wanted to help me go green and donate plastic bags. Also, searching on CanadianLiving.com, I found another lady asking for a copy of the pattern.

That was the beginning. And since then, I have had requests from what I refer to as my Bag Ladies Network (or BLN) from all over the world. Some days I answer requests for a couple of hours! It takes me so long because I chat with them and find out where they are from.

I have had a great time meeting women from England, Australia, South Africa, India, all over the United States and many, many from Canada. They have all promised to send pictures of their finished projects, with which I'm planning to make a scrapbook.

As for me, I called the head office for Additionelle and their store's customer service department is saving me bags. Their sister store Penningtons also phones me with two or three large bags full of bags that they get from returns. These are my prized possessions since they are very heavy plastic and come in dark grey, royal blue and shiny black bags with red writing. I also save shiny white Liquor Control Board bags (too bad I don't drink more!), Zellers red is cool, but their customer service says the staff take the bags home and use them for garbage and poop bags (and then throw them in a landfill? GASP!)

I'm overflowing with all the bags and am sorting and cutting them.

That's my story, maybe it'll be more interesting once BLN starts sending me pictures and we all have a few bags under our belts!"

Interesting story indeed! What a great way to use up those old plastic bags.

Here's a couple of photos of some of Linda's bags

And here's an image of a tote made by a BLN lady in Laval, Quebec

I love these bags and am (slowly) trying to make one. Admittedly, I'm not much of a crafter, but my sister taught my to crochet so I can make this.

Have you made this craft?  Let us know! Send an e-mail with a photo of your bag and a brief blurb about yourself to forums@canadianliving.com and we'll post a photo of your bag in the Green Living blogs!

If you want to try to make a plastic bag tote, here's the pattern.

Also, contragtulations to Angela who gave us some great green cleaning tips. She wins a copy of the book Green This! Greening Your Cleaning, by Deirdre Imus. Check out her tips here. Angela, send me a private message at forums@canadianliving.com with your information so I can send you your new book!