Karafuu tall jars

Two tall jars cut from upcycled wine bottles, with lids carved by hand from mninga (Pterocarpus angolensis). They take dry pasta, beans, nuts, rice and seeds. A food-grade silicone ring seals each lid.

Both jars are 7.5 cm across and stand 16 cm tall, or 18.5 cm with the lid on, which clears the underside of most wall cupboards with room to lift the lid off. Each lid lifts straight out with nothing to unscrew. Karafuu is Swahili for clove, and each lid is carved by hand as one, so the two are never quite the same.

A carver shapes each lid by hand from mninga as a clove, the spice Zanzibar is known for, and a food-grade silicone ring inside it closes the jar airtight.

Before that the jar was a wine bottle. A team collects empties from hotels, resorts, restaurants and dump sites across the island, because tourism brings waste with it. At the workshop they sort the bottles by colour, remove the labels, then wash and disinfect them.

The women score a groove around each bottle. Heat and cold part the glass along that line, and two rounds of polishing take the cut edge down until it’s smooth to handle. A taller jar takes a longer section of the bottle, cut from the straight part of the body.

Each jar keeps the colour of the bottle it was cut from, so the pair rarely match exactly.

The workshop runs on solar power, collects rainwater and works towards producing no waste of its own. It trains its artisans on the job and holds guaranteed membership of the World Fair Trade Organisation.

Wash the glass by hand and dry it before you refill. Keep the wooden lids out of water: a dry cloth, and nothing abrasive. Wipe the silicone ring when you refill.