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facing every which way and you may well wonder what happened to all those outstanding examples of beachcombed
memorabilia.

Here is the way to avoid a haphazard collection. Insert a rigid cylinder of some sort into the jar (sections from heavy duty cardboard tubes cut to the right height work splendidly). Sort through your collection for the most beautiful specimens and, using long-handled tongs or forceps, drop them into the jar one by one, controlling which facets face outward. By adding the stones one by one you can also control empty spaces, which would be a problem if your pieces were just thrown randomly into a jar. Keep filling, correcting spacing and filling in open spots with some of your smaller pieces. A cautionary word here, gained from experience. If you are using a tall jar and some relatively large stones, please place them GENTLY; dropping them in can crack the jar!

Once your jar is filled and the lid is on, add a colorful label to describe the contents, date and location; you could design your own label by hand or with rubber stamps or purchase something cute and in keeping with your theme at a craft store. A daily reminder of a great memory, it's a working memory, too, because once loaded, your memory jar will probably be heavy enough to function as a bookend or maybe a doorstop.

This, of course, is a mere beginning in the process of looking at recyclables with new eyes in order to repurpose them into things we can use every day. Just remember to think of things that you need to have anyway; maybe you already have them ready to go out the back door. Or, think of how discards might be thought of as visible, usable memories. Happy recycling!

Learn more about this author, Sue Osgood.
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