© 2026 Boise State Public Radio
NPR in Idaho
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

A love letter to the glass jar collector in all of us

Producer Kalyani Saxena's jar collection. (Kalyani Saxena/Here & Now)
Kalyani Saxena/Here & Now
Producer Kalyani Saxena's jar collection. (Kalyani Saxena/Here & Now)

Many of us live our lives in pursuit of conventional goals like success and happiness. But some of us live for a more niche purpose: to find the perfect use for a little glass jar you have saved.

Do you see a perfectly shaped salsa jar, teeny jam container, or buxom peanut butter bottle and feel the urge to gleefully squirrel it away? Waiting for the right moment to bring it out again and give it the perfect new use? You’re not alone. Turns out more than half of American grocery shoppers reuse their glass containers. So why do we do it? How do we do it?

Host Scott Tong speaks with journalist Rachel Kurzius, who wrote about this in Vox, and is a glass jar collector slash hoarder herself.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2026 WBUR

You make stories like this possible.

The biggest portion of Boise State Public Radio's funding comes from readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.

Your donation today helps make our local reporting free for our entire community.