Grocery shopping can come with a lot of extra packaging that just ends up in our trash and recycling every week. One TikToker decided to get a little crafty with her leftover bottles and offered up a hack to her followers.
The scoop
Elle Maceda (@ellemaceda) shared a reel on TikTok that showed off her upcycled sriracha bottle filled with cooking oil.
@ellemaceda Love this! #TheAdamProject #cookinghacks #fyf #relatable ♬ Love You So - The King Khan & BBQ Show
"Cooking hack: Save your old sriracha bottles, wash, and then fill with preferred cooking oil," Maceda wrote in the text floating over her video.
The hack is incredibly simple, as all it takes is washing out your sriracha bottle and replacing it with the oil of your choice. You can also refill the bottle with other condiments, like mayo, mustard, and ketchup, to have more control over your condiment application.
However, it's important to understand that oils oxidize under heat and light, which is why they are often packaged in dark glass. If you choose to do this hack, make sure you keep the bottles tucked away in a cabinet, and then your oils will last like they would in any other packaging.
Oils also pick up flavor easily, so if you choose not to wash out the bottle, you will have infused cooking oil. Add some herbs, and you have a gourmet oil for your next dinner party.
How it's helping
Americans discard over 50 million tons of plastic every year, and only 5% is recycled. By prolonging the use of packaging in any way we can, we can slow down and reduce the overall impact that it has on our landfills.
Reusing the sriracha bottles can also allow you to avoid having to buy new oil or condiment bottles for your household. Simple bottles are priced around $10 and much higher for more aesthetic kinds, which can mean big savings if you want to build a small collection in your home.
Other food hack enthusiasts have already seen the benefits of similar hacks, like reusing Parmesan cheese bottles for baking soda, taping silica packets to the lid of matcha jars, replacing rusted mason jar lids with plastic mayonnaise lids, and using discarded yogurt cups as seed starters.
Once you are done with these plastic hacks, you can also increase your chances of recycling properly by knowing your options in your area.
TCD Picks » Upway Spotlight
💡Upway makes it easy to find discounts of up to 60% on premium e-bike brands
|
Which of these factors would most effectively motivate you to buy a refillable product?
Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. |
Saving money 💰 What everyone's saying
"I do this. It makes it so much easier to put exactly how much you want," one user commented.
"Good camping hack," another user posted.
Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more and waste less, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
