What about painting some wooden labels with chalkboard paint and using chalk to write on it? Tie it with a ribbon and you're done.

jars/lids*****

Hey Jessiemarie,

I have been using my lids for years since I first got them! The only times I felt compelled to change them out was when I stored liquids in them. I found that over time, they got kinda rusted, even if I washed and dried them right away.

Lauren mentions somewhere on her blog that you can purchase lids (and lids only) in recyclable packaging. I have yet to figure where I can find some, as the stores near me all have some kind of plastic wrap around lids, and packaging is not shown when you place an order online (though I think it should be!) Anybody know? I have a couple jars I don't want to donate just because the lids went bad.

Anyway, just shop around… Maybe you have something in your area. But I would not worry about replacing lids on those jars that have dry items in them. Mark the 'wet foods' jars' lids if you aren't sure which ones have been used for that in the past! Hope this helps. 🙂

I have the same issue… I just recorded everything on my phone at first, but when I had larger bulk orders, I started to feel annoying and decided to make my own little tags.

I had some leftover plastic film I kept (I am an artist, so I keep some things here and there to make things), so I cut them into tiny rectangles, punched a hole in them, then tied them to the ends of the drawstrings of my bulk bags. I brought a reloadable dry erase marker to the store and wrote down bin numbers on there.

This may work for some people, but I have found this to be very cumbersome as well. My marker runs out a lot, the cashier can't read my small numbers, it's difficult to hold the bag of stuff and write on the tag… Perhaps someone else would find this exact method easy, but I need to figure something else out. lol.

I was watching one of Bea Johnson's videos and noticed that she has tare weights and some bin numbers written on her bulk bags. Idk if she uses some kind of specific writing utensil for the bin number so she can erase the numbers every time, or if she just wrote them on there permanently (which wouldn't surprise me, as it seems she's gotten into an efficient shopping routine and probably knows she'll get certain foods every time she shops). Or maybe it's black chalk? Not sure.

But I think what I'll do for my bags is make a larger paper tag that I can just write on with a pencil (and erase between shopping trips). I'll have to find a way to make it easy to take off and reattach for washing. However, I will figure this out.

Not sure if this helped you, but sometimes it can be useful to hear someone else's thoughts on the matter! Best of luck with your zero waste shopping. 🙂

I just tried to do this at the Westwood Whole Foods in LA and I was told "it's a good idea but our tare doesn't go heigh enough to do that" and it was a 16 oz mason jar…