Recycling – Reusing Glass Bottles: A Luxury of Millennials

Nicole  | 

Living in Mexico City has been a treat. Any time you step into a new home, you are surrounded by plants, on tables, on shelves, with dangling leaves tapered on the wall hung by clips. The temperate climate here permits a beautiful growing space for indoor plants. On top of that, plants are incredibly affordable.

Where to Buy Plants

Off topic, but one of the best places to buy plants, pots, dirt, fertilizer, plant accessories, etc. is the Cuemanco Plant and Flower Market in Xochimilco. You can find more info here. I recommend going with a friend who has a car. If that’s not an option, bring a tarp. When you call your Uber XL (you’re going to need this LOL), you can he helpful and kind by using the tarp not to dirty their vehicle.

Photo: Cuemanco Plant and Flower Market. Valeria Delgado on Wikimedia Commons.

A smaller market in Roma Norte that I occasionally buy plants from is Mercado Medellín. Some will say Mercado Jamaica is also a good spot, but I find it’s more of a flower market than a plant market.

Photo: Mercado Medellín. Patricia Garcia on Google Maps.

Growing Plants in Jars

One of my favorite decorations in my apartment is growing plants – especially pothos and philodendron in glass jars. It’s such a beautiful way to take up space on a windowsill. I even have hanging wooden boxes outside attached to the railing with glass potters full of pothos.

They started out there because their mother plant was infected with mealy bugs. I dissected smaller sections of the plant with the root, cleaned it thoroughly and put them in quarantine outside. It still took a long time to rid the mealy bugs and I’m nervous to bring them back inside, but I’m happy with them there!

Where to Find Glass Jars

Ahh, the point of writing this article. In the USA, I would just order some same-day delivery mason jars from Amazon, which of course, you can do here in Mexico too (but mason jars are expensive for some reason).

You can one-by-one collect your own glass jar from pasta jars, wine bottles, kombucha bottles, spice jars, pickle or sauerkraut jars, jam or jelly jars, honey jars, perfume bottles (rinsed well), garbanzo bean jar, capers jar, drinking glasses or old mugs.

If you need glass jars quickly, Semilla Selecta is a local refill shop that sells simple and well-priced jars. You may also be able to find some donated jars here too. You could try local mercados or thrift markets for some cool finds.

Photo by Mor Shani on Unsplash

Now, I have 50 empty glass jars – Oops!

If you’re like me, you collect these glass jars and don’t have enough plants to fill them. For a short time, I ended up throwing away glass jar (which made my soul ache) because I wasn’t sure what else to do with them – recycling is another story here.

I found a few different ways to re-home these glass jars!

  1. Refill stores like Semilla Selecta have a little basket for customers to donate or take jars. I sometimes drop off plastic jars too, but they aren’t as sought after. Botánica Granel: Located in Colonia Roma, this bulk store promotes recycling and may accept clean glass jars for reuse. Zero Market: In Colonia Condesa, this zero-waste store encourages container reuse and might be interested in taking your jars. The Green Corner: With several branches across the city, this organic and sustainable store might accept glass jars for recycling projects.
  2. Thrift/antique markets may have some cool, unique jars you could use. There is a nice antique market in Colonia Doctores every Saturday and Sunday at Jardín Dr. Ignacio Chavez.
  3. Recycling/Barter Events. Mercado de Trueque (Barter Market): Organized by Mexico City’s Environmental Ministry (SEDEMA), this monthly event lets you exchange recyclables for agricultural products. While it focuses on paper, cardboard, and PET, you can ask if they accept glass jars. Reciclatrón: Also organized by SEDEMA, this program primarily collects electronic waste, but sometimes accepts other materials. Check their calendar to see if upcoming events accept glass jars.
  4. Creative Recycling Projects. Cerrando el Ciclo (“Closing the Cycle”): This project transforms glass bottles into products like cups and clocks, promoting environmental awareness and providing employment opportunities to women in vulnerable situations. You can contact them to donate your jars and support their cause.
  5. Urban Gardens and Eco Collectives. Huerto Roma Verde: Located in Colonia Roma, this community space promotes urban agriculture and sustainability. You can donate jars for use in plant propagation or ecological workshops. Huerto Tlatelolco: In the Tlatelolco area, this urban garden may also be interested in receiving glass jars for their activities.
  6. Online Groups and Communities. Facebook Marketplace and local groups: Post in groups like “Trueque CDMX” or “Reciclaje Creativo CDMX” offering your jars. Many people are looking for these containers for personal projects. Freecycle and Trash Nothing: Platforms where you can give away things you no longer need so others can repurpose them. Expat groups on Facebook and Whatsapp always love to gift and receive glass jars.

Reusing glass bottles isn’t just a sustainable choice—it’s a creative act that turns everyday waste into something beautiful and functional. As Millennials, many of us are embracing the luxury of slow living, thoughtful consumption, and a little DIY flair. Whether you’re growing new plant babies, scouting for unique jars at a weekend market, or giving your extras a second life through donation, every little effort adds up. Let’s keep reimagining what we already have—and keep the cycle of reuse alive and thriving.

The War on House Plant Mealybugs

Nicole  | 

Have you heard of mealybugs? They are fuzzy white insects that infest plants, feasting on the sugar within the crevices and leaves of the plant, eventually sucking out all the life from them.

They’re extremely contagious to other plants and apparently, they “walk” at night to other sections of the plant and to other plants!

I have never witnessed these bugs before and first noticed them on my very long, beautiful pothos leaves which looked like a residue. The plant lives next to an open window so I chalked it up to that and cleaned the leaves with water and a towel. Little did I know, the infestation had begun.

I have no clue where this started, as I had that plant for months. I did get a new plant which sat at the bench below the dangling vines. My best guess is I brought the mealybugs home with this new plant and they hitch-hiked onto my beautiful pothos.

Soon enough, I realized that there was something more than a residue on my plant. With a simple google search, I figured out exactly what the infestation was and could even see with the naked eye full-size mealybugs, fuzz and all.

Photo by Ravi Kant: https://www.pexels.com/photo/macro-photography-of-a-mealybug-5136274/

I immediately quarantined the plant in the kitchen above the refrigerator away from all other plants in the house. I took hours to clean every single leaf and crevice of the plant with 70%+ isopropyl alcohol, as the internet suggested. This was a heck of a task the first time. I figured after doing it once, I would just need to watch for stragglers. Wrong.

These terrible creatures hide and procreate like there is no tomorrow. Soon enough, the plant was fully infested again.

The internet suggests when it gets to this point, it’s likely in the soil as well. The best bet is to throw out the plant and start anew. But then there’s me… the stubborn one.

Last week I began plucking out piece by piece of the pothos, cleaning each piece from root to leaf. I placed them in glass jars on my terrace – still quarantined. I figured the cleaning must have done the job finally. Wrong again. I checked them days later and low and behold- mealybugs. Not a lot, but some.

I read a little more and found about making a spray of half 70%+ isopropyl alcohol mixed with half water and a few drops of dish soap. I decided instead of making a spray because most of the mealybugs were hiding in the crevice where the leaf meets the stalk, I made it into a bath.

The already displaced pothos pieces- I washed the pothos from root to leaf with a toothbrush and dish soap, and doused them into the alcohol bath. The spray recipe said to rinse off after 5-10 minutes, so I after the bath, I set the pothos on a paper towel with a 10 minute timer. I then rinsed them thoroughly and placed them back into the jar with fresh water and returned them to the terrace.

I dug up a few extra pieces from the main plant and repeated the process. The longest vines (close to 5-6 feet) are still in the war zone with the mealybugs. I ran out of alcohol, so I will get more tomorrow and make a larger bath for them. I hope this solves the issue so I can replant them and get them back to their barren shelf in my bedroom.