The Smartest Thing to Do with All My Empty Mason Jars (Experts Swear by It!)
Growing up in Miami, every spring, we took family outings to big-box stores to fill our garage with water, flashlights, batteries, nonperishable food, and more in case a hurricane blasted through. I was in high school when Hurricane Andrew, a category five storm, devastated our area — my family was able to get through weeks of no power and uncertainty thanks to our stash of supplies. Bottled water was one of our biggest saviors for everything from quenching thirst to maintaining some semblance of hygiene when times got tough.
So when I got older and moved to NYC, I wasn’t phased by harsh winter weather and blizzard warnings. I had flashlights, blankets, batteries, and nonperishable food — but the one thing I never stocked up on properly, mainly due to the postage stamp-size apartments I lived in? Water.
Why You Should Always Fill Empty Jars with Water in Your Kitchen
Now that I live in a house with plenty of cabinet space, I love the tip offered in this TikTok video from homesteader Abbie Flake that is so simple yet game-changing for home safety and emergency preparedness, year-round but especially during winter. Any empty jars that you don’t use for anything particular that are sitting in your kitchen cabinets can easily be filled with water and stored in your cabinets, taking up the exact same amount of space. And that extra water is essential if you lose power or your water supply is cut off during a winter storm for hydration, teeth-brushing, bathing, flushing your toilet, giving it to pets, watering your plants, and more.
Melanie Musson, a home safety expert with InsuranceProviders.com, says if you rely on a water pump for flowing water, it’s a good idea to stock up on water in jars or cartons so that if you lose power, you can still have water for necessities. However, if you live in a city and are on municipal water, you’ll likely still have flowing water if the electricity goes out.
Something to keep in mind is that the water should, of course, be stored before a storm, and always be sure to use sanitized food-grade plastic or glass containers with tight-fitting lids. Food-grade plastic containers won’t transfer harmful chemicals into the water or food they contain; for example, containers previously used to store beverages, like 2-liter soft drink bottles, juice bottles, or containers made specifically to hold drinking water.
If you’re going to purchase new containers, make sure they’re labeled food-grade or food-safe. Experts note to avoid using old milk containers because bacteria can grow quickly in it and might contaminate water stored in it. Of course, Mason jars are ideal because they’re probably already in your pantry and you can’t stack them within one another — so storing them with and without water is essentially the same. And can work even if you have a tiny apartment like I did!
Other Expert-Approved Emergency Preparedness Tricks to Know
I was curious about other kitchen-related emergency preparedness hacks, those you could “set and forget” well before a winter storm even forms to provide some peace of mind without using up a lot of space or effort. Naturally, I reached out to the experts — I spoke to Barb Hudson, owner of preparedness blog Thriving Through It All, who says to fill sanitized juice or water jugs with water and keep them in your freezer. ”If the power goes out, you can use them in your refrigerator to keep things cold longer, and when they defrost you have a clean water source.”
In severe storms, water lines may be compromised, leading to a loss of water even in a gravity-fed system, she says. “If a big storm is coming, fill the bathtub with water for flushing and fill gallon jugs with water for drinking,” Musson explains. “If a typical winter snowstorm is in the forecast, you probably don’t need to take these measures.”
Another easy thing experts recommend doing is keeping nonperishable food stocked in your pantry. Throughout the year, when you go grocery shopping, experts recommend buying extra boxes of crackers or tuna fish that you don’t open but to have there just in case. Allen Baler, a preparedness expert and the CEO of 4Patriots, suggests having 72 hours of food for every person in your family.
Another simple way to stay focused and not panic if the power goes out is to store a flashlight in your silverware or junk drawer. That way you’ll find it effortlessly and immediately. Whether you live in a region with earthquakes, hurricanes, flooding, tornadoes, or none of the above — take the time today to make sure your family will be prepared in case the unexpected happens.
