Any ideas on how to store food without all the cling wrap, foil, and disposable plastic bags and containers and keep it reasonably fresh?
-Karina
Before I devised my current eco-friendly system of food storage, I drove my husband bananas with my crazy workarounds. Plastic wrap -- nearly impossible to recycle and a possible source of chemical plasticizers like potential endocrine disruptor DEHA -- was ditched in favor of unbleached wax paper folded neatly around leftovers. The flimsy reusable plastic containers I once bought from the local supermarket had to be tossed in the recycling bin too often (broken lids, lingering onion smell) to be truly green, so I made makeshift containers by placing our good Williams-Sonoma Brasserie plates on top of cereal bowls (which promptly resulted in the breaking of those bowls). And the ultimate in eco-tacky: I refused to buy more plastic chip clips until I could find a suitable green replacement, so I used rubber bands we had lying around the house to close up opened bags of food.
Creative? Yes. Insane? Also yes. But you don't have to be. There are plenty of wonderful alternatives out there for greenies concerned about sending Ziplocs to our landfills and/or the potential health hazards of plastics. A few tips:
The glass is always greener.
Nothing beats glass for eco-friendly food storage at home. It's nontoxic, recyclable, and will last for years to come, as long as you don't have a case of the old butter fingers. The only downside? Glass-lidded containers, like the elegantly sustainable pieces made by 104-year-old U.S. glassware manufacturer Anchor Hocking, are a bit of an investment. More reasonable ones with plastic lids can be found nearly everywhere, from Target to Ikea. Another fun bargain alternative is to look for vintage Pyrex storage: Great finds can be had on eBay (Hint: Search for "refrigerator dishes") or at your local thrift store/flea market.
You can be foiled again.
You're right to be wary of aluminum foil; for years, the shiny stuff had been banned from our household, since extracting aluminum is about as environmentally destructive a process as it gets. According to Lester Brown, founder of the Earth Policy Institute, for each ton of aluminum produced, a ton of caustic chemicals is left after the ore is extracted, which pollutes surface and underground water supplies. And, says Brown, the energy costs are enormous: The worldwide aluminum industry uses as much electric power as all of Africa. But when I stumbled across a box of Reynolds Wrap 100 percent recycled foil at the market earlier this year, at a fairly affordable $2.99 for 35 square feet, I have to admit I was pretty thrilled. Though it can be recycled again, I still use it sparingly -- I'm certainly not lining my baking sheets with it merely to avoid scrubbing a pan, unlike some Food Network stars who shall remain nameless.
Plastic with a good rap.
For those concerned about the breakability and weight of glass, I'm a big fan of Preserve's products, which are made entirely from recycled No. 5 (polypropylene) plastics like yogurt cups. The storage containers are dishwasher safe, recyclable, and free of the now much maligned BPA. While some may argue that there's nothing positive about plastic, I don't think recycled polypropylene should be ruled out entirely. Since it's made from materials that would otherwise have ended up in a landfill, putting them to good (re)use is a better option than taking up dwindling landfill space, where these products would take thousands of years to degrade. To date, Preserve has used nearly 100 tons of recycled plastic for its products.
About that chip clip...
Alright, so I decided that there are much more pressing environmental issues than the tiny piece of plastic used to secure one's Pirate's Booty. But if you're insistent on going all the way in your green storage efforts, take a look at this nifty guide on how to recycle the clamp on a plastic clothes hanger into your very own sustainable snack food fastener.
Send all your eco-inquiries to Jennifer Grayson at eco.etiquette@gmail.com. Questions may be edited for length and clarity.
I also have a vacuum sealer. It vacuum seals plastic cannisters that I can reuse. There are also some lids I can put on opened cans to reseal, but I am limiting my cans now and trying to stick to fresh produce.
Different foods require different means of storage. If it's freezer or long term it's tupperware, vacuum sealer or even traditional canning in glass jars.
If it's more short term it can be tupperware, vacuum sealer or the refrigerator dishes.
I even have Bento boxes for my lunch, plus some tupperware sized for lunch goodies.
I have some empty Orangina bottles with screw caps I can use instead of plastic or metal drink bottles. That way I can really be sure nothing is leaching into my drink.
If you were planning on tossing those old masking tape rolls anyway, then I don't really see the harm in putting them to reuse, but going forward you'd be better off with reusable clips.
Wax paper has been good for wrapping onions odor free in my fridge.
What I want is a good alternative to plastic freezer bags. Any suggestions on how to store meat in the freezer while avoiding those plastic baggies?
Don't suggest going Vegetarian, with all due respect, I still have to store my blueberries and they go into plastic baggies now as well.
The other thing I love but can't find a good odor free storage method is for cheese. I mean cheese like brie or camembert. I love the taste hate the smell and the fridge really reeks sometimes.
http://www.pyrexware.com/index.asp?pageId=14
There's also a great website, Life Without Plastic, that sells these really neat Sanctus Mundo stainless steel containers that can be used in the freezer:
http://lifewithoutplastic.com/boutique/airtight-watertight-stainless-steel-food-containers-p-282.html
And actually, a true cheesemonger will tell you to never store cheese in plastic. The best choice is cheese paper, which is reusable:
http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/the-cheesemonger/the-cheesemonger-dont-store-your-cheese-in-plastic-066155
And thank you for the heads up about aluminum foil. I've been using it thinking it is so great because it is easily recyclable, but had not really thought about how it is extracted.
Otherwise, when it comes to storage containers, I just reuse things like cottage chees or butter containers for both refrigerator and freezer storage.
i cook a lot, and i have found there is a sustainable, safe alternative to throw-away food storage.
parchment can often fill in for foil. i do occasionally buy the recycled aluminum mentioned, however.
i second the idea on canning jars. when making food for family meals and gatherings, they are uniform, fitting into the fridge easily, and because of lid design, can stack. use the wide-mouth type.
for left-overs from meals, i simply save my favorite glass food jars. washed out well, these come in shapes and sizes i might think i would use. unlike plastic, i can see what is in them.
as for the chip bag closures, my top kitchen drawer always has at least half a dozen spring-type clothespins -- perfect for chipbags, and countless other closure needs. simply fold down the top a few times and clip. i save plastic bags from food such as bread, washed out, and for safe measure, these can be popped over the closed chip bag for freshness.