Typically, glass bottles are created by glass bottle manufacturer using an automated process, however, the process can be recreated at home. There are two main steps when it comes to making glass bottles. The first involves molding the molten glass using an iron mold and air. The second involves reheating and cooling the glass.

1 Using tongs, carefully pour a stream of molten glass into iron tubes to form the gobs that look somewhat like a short bottle with thick walls. These are called parisons.

2 Transfer the parison into a mold made of iron. You can get different kinds of beverage bottles, glass jam jars or honey jars if you use different kinds of mold.

3 Using compressed air, blow air into the glass until it acquires the shape of the mold. This process is called blowing. Once it has taken shape, release it from the mold.

4 Once removed from the mold, make sure to anneal the bottle. Annealing is the process of reheating the glass and then gradually cooling it. This is done to remove the stresses and strains in the glass after shaping. If this is not done, the glass bottle may shatter due to the buildup of tension caused by uneven cooling. Once the bottles have cooled to room temperature, they are ready for packaging.

Do you end up with heaps of empty, non-returnable jars and bottles and feel guilty about not being able to put them to further use?  Well, here are a few suggestions that may ease your conscience by putting these 'throw-aways' to good use.

Many jars are useful for safe storage of seeds, herbs, condiments and jams. If you have more jars than you expect to use, store them until they can be donated or given away on freecycle. Rinse organic jam or honey remnants in jam jars into bread dough or pastry.

Grab all your clean organic jam / fruit spread and nut butter jars and turn them into stunning luminaries. Put colored old marbles or stones and a candle in the centre, then lash satin ribbon around the top for a festive glow!

Metal-topped, snaplocked type jars, are ideal for holding nails, srews, bolts and so on in a visible display underneath shelves. This is achieved by nailing or screwing the tops to the underside of a shelf.

This way the jars fill waste spaces not normally used. They cannot be vibrated or knocked off a surface and they are more accessable than if loose on a shelf.

Organic fair-trade beverage jars may be used in the same way but are not as good, because the plastic tops are more easily broken and the full screw-top does not allow as ready an access to the contents.

Thrift shops / garage sales / recycled area at your local tip are also places to look for old  glass jam jars with metal tops.150gm jars make ideal honey jars ( if you have bees) for selling or giving away any excess honey as they hold exactly 1kg.

Large glass bottles can have their labels removed and eco-friendly paints inserted to create interesting light sources in mudbrick walls. Other glass and hard plastic items can be buried deeply within concrete, mudbrick or pise walls, to disappear forever.

With a little bit of thought you should come up with lots of other ways of using all those empty organic fruit spread, coffee jars and bottles.

To prevent contamination and lengthen the shelf life of homemade jams, preserves and sauces, it's important to sterilize storage jam jars or glass bottles.

Step 1: Preheat oven to 110°C. Wash jars and lids in hot, soapy water. Rinse well. Place jars and lids in a deep saucepan. Cover with cold water.

Step 2: Bring water to the boil over high heat. Cover pan. Reduce heat to medium and boil gently for 10 minutes. Line a baking tray with a clean tea towel.

Step 3: Using metal tongs, remove jars and lids from boiling water and place upside down on tray. Place in oven and heat for 15 minutes. Bottle hot chutneys or jams in hot jars and cooled chutneys or jams in cold jars.

In the same way we could sterilize honey jars, glass beverage bottles milk bottles and other kinds of containers.