I always keep useful jars, tins and cartons with good Lids to reuse, but how many is too many? I recently helped my father sort out his as he had some with no lids and lids with no container, so I made him throw out the ones without lids. He also had another stash in the cupboards so he had nearly 60 containers, not including jars, so I said to keep the new ones and throw out the old ones, because he will never use that many in one go ever! He does use them to give food to my brother when he visits, but still, it can get obsessive and take up more room than necessary.
Usually, older people do this habit. In fact, I had the same experience with my mother keeping all the cup-noodle plastics after washing them. She use it to make ice block which is of course just enough for one pitcher of water when needed. There is nothing with it, it is just that it takes up space in the kitchen and it looks weird have it sitting along side with your china wares.. hehehe by the way, I must tell you that it is also saving the environment. re-use, re-cycle. the new generations has more to learn from our folks!
I do it pretty often for well-made glass containers and jars, especially if they are airtight. Considering that food containers are a necessity that we need to buy, it makes perfect sense to recycle high quality ones.
I can understand the mentality: you never know when you might need it! It has come in handy for me several times. But you're right, there comes a point when it is obsessive. If you have one cupboard shelf devoted to these containers, I think that is more than enough. It forces you to start making decisions about what you really want to keep and what you should let go of.
While it's always a good idea to keep jars and tins because they can be reused in so many creative ways. Most of the empty jars I use for growing flowers and placing them around my compound and there's always room for more. Not that it's expanding [lol] there just is too much space and I don't consume too many store bought products that come packed in jars. Should there be too many of them in the distant future then I'll get rid of the new ones because I'd hate to start planting flowers afresh.
If you have a large enough storage for all the food containers, then I guess keeping a lot would be fine (unless you think it has reached a point where the activity has become no different from hoarding). Although you never know something might come up in the future, prompting you to use the containers, still moderation may be in order. They do consume space, especially in our case since we only use cupboards to store stuff. You can set a limit for your father. Perhaps 10 containers? If he exceeds that number, then you have to intervene.
I only keep food containers that are made of thick plastic, like ice cream containers or glass jars. I throw away small containers, unless I think I can use them, like as a water dish for my cat. I think people should only have 20 or 30 pieces of these containers, and more than that, then for sure they are now just collecting useless space takers in their home.
I only keep the plastic containers from takeout because those are easily stacked and don't take up much space. Also they are microwaveable so it can serve both as a storage or heating tool. We sometimes keep some jars but we mostly only use it once or twice before we throw it away because we know we will be getting new containers when we buy new products.
I don't like the idea of throwing them out. I think later they will have some substantial use that are not apparent for now. So I think stashing them is a kind of a worthy thing to do. Instead of throwing them out, just give them out with foods like what the keeper uses to do.
I can't tell you how much of a pain it is to have a bunch of containers with no lid to them. For some reason they always go missing like there is a lid snatcher out there or something. Whenever one goes missing then I throw it away because I don't have time to use foil.
Sounds like you need a better organizational system for your reusable containers, although I know what you mean. I wouldn't necessarily throw each one out unless it was super old because that's just a waste, lid or not. It's better to have a dozen or so of these containers lying around rather than dozens because then you start to lose lids or bottoms and run into more trouble.
If I don't have a lid for it then I will recycle it. There are some exceptions though. If I find that the size is perfect then I keep it and just put foil on top of it.
You can always donate your extra food jars to a charity organisation such as the Red Cross or St. Vincent de Paul Society. Clean containers are always in demand, and it would be a shame to throw them out. I have gone to great lengths to keep my home plastic free. I now have only glass jars. Actually, I have a glass jar and bottle for every occasion.
I re-use food containers but there is a point where you have to let them go. If there is no lid or the lid don't fit they are gone. If the plastic dis-colors they go out in the garbage. Many of the containers are only good one or two times after you use them. Even the newer storage containers like the ones from Glad, only are good for about three re-heats. And lord if something is in them and in the refrigerator, rather then even look I throw them away if I think they went bad. They are inexpensive so better not knowing what is now growing
I try not to hang onto them as they are more often than not made of very cheap material that discolours and goes a weird shape with heat. I much prefer to recycle them, and instead get proper, good quality tupperware. I also HATE clutter, and don't like hoarding. Less cluttered cupboards are easier to clean and look so much better
