5 alternatives to disposable kitchen storage bags & wraps
Over in the Frugal Girl Facebook group, a reader asked for ideas to help reduce plastic food storage usage in the kitchen (things like zipper bags, Saran wrap, and so on).
I've tried a lot of non-disposable alternatives so I thought I'd share my favorites here.
First, a note:
None of these items is going to be as handy as a disposable plastic bag. Disposables are always the simplest, easiest option.
But if you are motivated to reduce trash output and are willing to invest some money and a little time, there ARE options out there to help you avoid disposable plastic.
1. Grove Reusable Essentials Set
These are $10.95 for a set of three, and I especially like the large bag. It's a lot like a gallon ziploc bag, but it's sturdy and reusable.
The zippers on these press and seal pretty easily, and they wash up well.
They say they're dishwasher safe, but one of mine got a little misshapen in the dishwasher so I handwash them now.
Use the link below to make an account with Grove; that way you'll get some freebies along with your reusable bags.
2. Stasher Silicone Bags
I have two of these and I use them pretty frequently. They're dishwasher safe (for real, unlike the Grove bags) and easy to seal.
My one beef with them is that the opening is not nearly as wide as the bag itself. So if you have a wide item, this doesn't work super well.
3. Commercial bread/cereal bags
The bags from bagels and other breads usually just need to have the crumbs shaken out and then they're good for more uses.
The liner bag from cereals can also be useful as long as you shake the crumbs/dust out. I use chip clips to hold these sealed shut.
You can also use other commercial bags; for instance, I've used the Costco-sized frozen fruit bags to hold my own frozen fruit, like peaches.
And the jasmine rice bags from Aldi make great chicken freezer bags!
4. Glass/metal storage containers
Since these containers tend to have more open space in them, they're not quite as good for keeping things fresh as plastic.
But for short-term storage, they work just fine.
I put things like muffins or leftover pizza in my big Pyrex container all the time.
Amazon sells a set of three rectangular Pyrex containers, and I highly recommend those if you don't already own some.
5. Stretchy silicone covers
These replace plastic wrap, and while there are oodles available on Amazon, I have not tried any brand except Lekue.
The reviews of the cheaper ones seem kind of mixed, with some people complaining of breakage after just a few uses.
In order to be worth the price + environmentally friendly, a reusable product needs to be very durable.
It's possible that some other brand works well, but I can definitely say that Lekue lids hold up really well over time. I've had my little ones for years now and they are still going strong.
The large one is fantastic for covering half a watermelon, and it even works for storing a quarter melon.
Slightly dishonorable mention:
I got two of these flat silicone disks that promised to replace plastic wrap.
They do work fairly well, but they don't seal as tight as the Lekue lids.
Also, the edges of the flower design stick out past the edge of the container, which is not great in a crowded fridge. And if you push on the top of the lid at all, it collapses.
So, I would not give these a thumbs up; buy one of the other products I mentioned instead.
Speaking of which, if you'd like to see all the products I'm recommending in this post, just click here.
Do these products save money?
If you use them enough times, then I'd say yes.
But plastic bags and Saran wrap are so cheap, it's going to take a long time to recoup the cost of buying reusable products.
So, I think that if you purchase these products, it has to be more because you want to avoid trash than because you want to save money.
If you'd like to see me talk about these products, well, you're in luck because I made a YouTube video.
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Alrighty. I think that's the end of what I've got to say on the topic. I'd love to hear from you, though.
What's your favorite plastic bag or plastic wrap alternative?
P.S. I should have added beeswax wraps to this list. I tried them and I wanted to love them, but man, I just could not get them to seal at all.
P.P.S. You can wash and reuse Ziploc bags too, of course (I do it all the time!) But that seemed a little too obvious to add to the list.
About the only things I use plastic bags for are homemade bread, cut cheese, and meat in the freezer. For the bread, I use cereal bags, which I reuse until they get a tear in them. The cheese goes in the bags from tortillas. The meat is the only thing I use actual zip top bags for. I don't like it, but I haven't really found a viable alternative, given the quantity of meat I'm putting in the freezer. My kids' lunches go in plastic lidded boxes that click into a freezer pack thing and fit in their insulated lunch bags.
Otherwise, all leftovers, baked goods, nuts, whatever go in Pyrex or Tupperware containers, or canning jars. I use canning jars a lot.
My sister sent me some beeswax wraps and they did not work for me at all. Not only did they not seal around anything, but they can't be washed in hot water. Almost everything I'm wrapping has some fat in it, so that was a problem for me. And even if I did only use it for cabbage or something (one of the recommended uses 🙂 I still want to be able to wash anything that comes into contact with food in hot water at least sometimes.
With the beeswax, have you tried shaping it with your hands around the dish? I've found that the body heat in your hands melts the wax just enough to seal it better.
I have some silicone lids similar to the flower ones and, since they don't seal well for refrgerator use, I use them to cover a bowl or dish if it has to sit out for a while (like rising bread dough) or if I'm prepping a bowl of dry ingredients that I'm planning to bake in the morning (like dry ingredients for granola...then in the morning I mix the wet ingredients, mix and bake). They are also good to keep a salad covered until the meat comes off the grill. They are perfect for short term coverage.
Kristin, I use a Weston Vacuum sealer almost exclusively for meat and poultry freezing. I buy the two different size boxes of sealing material (wide and narrow) to cut the length I need for whatever I'm freezing. I pre-freeze meats so they aren't runny in the bag I've cut. (Makes shrink-wrapping a whole lot less messy). And I've been able to keep stuff for 2+plus years with no freezer burn. After it's frozen, I put blue painters tape "labels" on the package corner ends (wrap it around the back to make sure it stays on) with the date and content info
so it doesn't become a UFO. (Unidentified Frozen Object) Learning curve figuring out how long to make the bag, allowing for headspace needed to fit into the sealer without blocking the handle coming down fully to create the suction. Bring on the elk!!
I often use a plate (corel) to be a lid for my KitchenAid mixer bowl. I often use smaller plates (that fit) to cover smaller bowls in the fridge. Sometimes I wrap washed greens and such in a clean flour sack towel for very short-term storage in the fridge. Many bread recipes tell you to cover rising dough with plastic wrap, but a kitchen towel works just fine.
We bought one of those enormous rolls of Sam's Club plastic wrap so long ago that my children can't remember; my oldest child is now 16. We keep waiting for it to run out!
That one makes me laugh. I bought the Sam's box easily 15 or 20 years ago and just this year finally got to the end of that huge box. It took up a huge chunk of a very deep drawer.
Also laughing because just yesterday I laid a huge piece of heavy duty foil in the bottom of my sink to hand-wash it for re-use. By the way, Mighty Nest sells a plastic bag dryer made of wood that holds my drying baggies very well.
Im glad I'm not the only one! As for plastic bag drying, use a clothes pin to clip them to the string that hangs down from my never-closed blind at my kitchen sink window. They hang for a while, then I turn them inside-out and hang a little more.
Our household is a big fan of Preserve storage containers. The link is for the 8-piece set, which is the best buy. If you're not an Amazon fan, I've also seen the containers sold in pairs or individually at stores like Whole Foods, Natural Grocers, and the local co-op.
https://www.amazon.com/Preserve-8-Piece-Storage-Recycled-Plastic/dp/B006IPC93C/ref=sr_1_12?dchild=1&keywords=preserve+travel+containers&qid=1598268605&sr=8-12
My husband works outdoors and throws his lunch in his duffel bag, so I can vouch that the soup containers DO NOT LEAK! We don't have a dishwasher, but they are allegedly dishwasher safe and microwave safe (his work has one, we don't. Counter space is more important. :P) They are a nice, thick plastic, too; I've yet to have one crack or break despite my klutzy nature.
Otherwise, we try to only use plastic for things link meat packaged for the freezer. Plastic bags from bread and other plastic store bags get reused for litter box cleaning. (I know there is flushable litter, but our house is 120 years old--we're not chancing the pipes!) We've had 50/50 success with beeswax wraps, which we usually use for produce or the rare open can.
I know a lot of plumbers and handymen, and they are all adamant about NEVER flushing any kind of cat litter, even the flushable, even a little tiny bit. Same thing with wipes or feminine hygiene things. They joke about their trucks or boats being paid for by flushable moist wipes and tampons. It’s really a landlord’s nightmare.
We use washable plastic containers to store anything cold, such as salads or for marinating meats etc. For warm foods such as leftovers, we use glass Pyrex dishes that can be easily heated in the container.
To replace plastic wrap, I have tried to use beeswax, and especially like the large roll you can buy at Trader Joe's that can be cut to size. Warming the wrap with your hands helps you mold it to the shape of the dish or fruit, and I only wash it with cold water.
If I use disposable plastic bags, I try to rinse them out and reuse them a couple of times before tossing them, to extend their lives. I use them mostly whenever I have to store something long term or in the freezer, and don't want to dedicate a dish to it or crowd the freezer.
I reuse ziplocks of course, and I find the empty chip and cereal bags I save are great for freezing meat (that I buy in bulk) in. I bought a box of those plastic bowl covers at the dollar store and I wash and reuse them. I remember my mom having a set of very sturdy plastic bowl covers that looked like reusable shower caps.
All of these. I have people saving their bread bags since I make mine.
I open up the cereal bags (just pull apart a the seam) and store them to reuse to wrap sandwiches (like they do in a deli) or other things that are going to be sent outside the house with my kids. This was especially useful when my teens took sandwiches to school in a brown bag and they were not willing to carry reusable containers any more like they did when they went to elementary school! Two teen boys can eat an entire box of cereal EVERY day, so I am happy to find other uses for these bags!
This is a great tip. My sons school is not allowing the use of Tupperware or lunchboxes due to Covid. (Everything must be disposable) (they would prefer we buy the school lunch) I will start saving these cereal bags for sandwiches now.
That would really piss me off.
The ludicrous things that we aren’t supposed to do because of COVID-19 would be funny if it wasn’t so frustrating. Lunchboxes and plastic food containers DON’T transmit it, neither do reusable grocery bags in the stores. We will be “paying the price” forever, as far as our landfills, increased pollution from factories making disposable plastic dining-ware, bags, etc. If it really helped, OK; but it doesn’t, so it drives me a little crazy.
I love the flower silicone lids for covering items in the microwave, instead of using plastic wrap or container lids which may not be microwaveable.
For covering bowls in the fridge that don't have lids, we just use a plate. I bought a lot of saucers at the thrift shop for that purpose.
I'm not sure how environmentally friendly it is, but we use a lot of waxed paper. I pack my lunch in a Rubbermaid container, but wrap the sides of a pickle and carrot sticks in twists of wax paper so they don't make the sandwich damp. A roll of plastic wrap lasts us ages because we mostly use it for transporting homemade pies to family gatherings (of which there have been none this year).
I use almost all of these strategies: reuse ziplocs and tin foil, Stashers, TelFresh, stretchy lid. Even before I got the Stashers and the stretchy lid, I didn't use tin foil or plastic wrap much. It takes me about 5 years to use a roll of tin foil and I expect the single roll of plastic wrap to last me the rest of my life. (I don't even know why I have it.) The only one I don't do is use cereal and bread bags.
I said I reuse ziplocs. In fact, I reuse them with a vengeance. I still have a few produce-preserving bags from the first time they hit the market in the late 1990s. Since they never contact with meat or fat, they lasted almost forever.
I do wish the Stashers came in gallon size: I use them to sous vide and half gallon often isn't big enough. They may survive the dishwasher but they don't get clean, either, especially as the instructions say not to turn it inside out.
One of my kids' friends was confounded that we didn't have plastic wrap in our house - and never do. She couldn't even process the concept. We have plastic bags, but use them primarily for the freezer and always reuse them. Like Kristen, I reuse the heavy bags that frozen fruit comes in and just use a binder clip to attach a note to them if the fruit inside doesn't match the fruit on the picture outside.
What a great post! I have many thoughts...
Regarding the beeswax wraps, there's definitely a learning curve. Wraps will always stick to themselves better than they will stick to another material, so they're most effective when you can wrap something up like a package, instead of trying to cover a bowl or dish. I've actually made a whole bunch of them myself, and we use them almost every day. They're great for wrapping up loaves of bread, and they'll stick well over small bowls. I have one that I use to cover my jar of sourdough starter, but I usually secure it with a rubber band. I've not been able to use one in place of Saran wrap to cover my bread while it ferments, however. BUT I added one of your recommended silicone lids to my next Mighty Fix, so hopefully that will eliminate my need for plastic wrap.
I have several of the Grove bags as well as a few "ZipTuck" ones from Full Circle, which are almost identical. I'm a little disappointed with my Stashers, honestly, which is sad because they're so expensive. I have a terrible time getting them to maintain an airtight seal, no matter how hard I mash them. I also agree that the openings of the bags are way too small. It is very nice that they're dishwasher safe, however.
Lately I've been trying a bunch of DIY sustainable/green crafts, like waterproof snack bags and laminated cotton bowl covers, which are similar to the beeswax wraps but much better for large dishes.
My weak point is storing ground beef in my crowded freezer, in which case I always grab a ziplock bag. I buy large quantities when it's on sale and divide it up, which means I have to freeze a good bit of it. If the Stashers had larger openings, I might try to store meat in them, since I feel like they get adequately clean in the dishwasher, but so far, no dice.
When I divide burger for the freezer, I put the divided amounts into things like old bread bags and then put those into the more expensive ziplocs. That way the bread bag can be thrown away and the outer bag has no meat reside so can be rinsed and reused when all the packages inside have been used. There are only two of us so we can fit four packages into one gallon Ziploc.
Oh, wow! GREAT idea - thanks so much!
Hi! We’ve been experimenting a little with silicone lids. We bought a flat, square set in the Target dollar area. The only thing they seal to is themselves! On the other hand, the 3 piece (small) lid cover set from IKEA has worked great! We’ve had it for about a month and there hasn’t been any problem cleaning them in the dishwasher. The smallest size fits over the end of a cucumber, the middle is good for avocados, and the largest one is good for cans. Also, I use bread bags, produce bags, etc for doggie pickup bags. One word of caution: Pyrex plastic lids do Not keep ants out of the container of oatmeal butterscotch chip cookies. :(. Not that I know from personal experience or anything...
I had some silicone bags from Net Zero. In theory, they looked like they would be great. But I had a hard time sliding the bar across to seal them. My fingers have some arthritis in them, and it just didn't work for me. I had planned to store meat in the freezer in them, but I just couldn't do it. Just a heads-up if you have weak (or sore) fingers. I gave them to my daughter, so I think they will be used!
I have some silicone lids similar to the flower ones and, since they don't seal well for refrgerator use, I use them to cover a bowl or dish if it has to sit out for a while (like rising bread dough) or if I'm prepping a bowl of dry ingredients that I'm planning to bake in the morning (like dry ingredients for granola...then in the morning I mix the wet ingredients, mix and bake). They are also good to keep a salad covered until the meat comes off the grill. They are perfect for short term coverage.
Oh, those are good points! I'll have to try using my flower lids that way.
I have some beeswax wrap and have "re-charged" them with more beeswax. I find they work a whole lot better when I don't put the item in the refrigerator. Since they can't be washed in hot water, I won't put them on anything with uncooked meat in it. I use them rather rarely.
I almost never buy cereal so I don't use cereal bags, but I will reuse a bag from frozen food if the original food was not meat.
I wash and reuse disposable freezer bags a lot. I won't reuse them if they held raw meat or very greasy food.
I also use Lekue stretch silicone covers -- love them - and I have a few flat silicone lids that I use. I only use smaller sized flat lids, because as you say, they can take up too much room by sticking out past the bowl. I have one very large one but I use it to replace the broken lid on my big Crock Pot or as a cover for my cast iron skillet when cooking.
I'll top bowls with plates sometimes for food storage in the frig -- it makes them good for stacking.
I use Stashers quite a bit, although I also have a problem sometimes with the seal not holding air tight, so I don't use them for long-term storage.
A few years back I bought some fabric "baggies" with nylon lining. They are limited in that they aren't leakproof and they aren't air-tight, but I use them in my work lunches to hold cut up carrots, chips, blueberries, that sort of thing. For sandwiches or chips, I bag them up no earlier than the night before, as they will get stale otherwise. I have seen instructions for making these bags, online. I turn them inside out and wash them in the washer.
As my plastic storage items warp or crack, I have been replacing them with steel, glass and silicone whenever possible. As you said, I don't do it for savings as much as for less trash.
We did not like Bees Wax because the scent seeped into the food. IKEA makes a set of 3 small silicone lids- cheap and work great.
Hi Kristin,
Since food storage is the subject on this post, could you give me some suggestions or recommendations for long-term food storage containers. It's confusing to know if the seals are tight enough to keep out intruders. Do you have an opinion or experience with this? I know that you purchase wheat in bulk for bread.
Thank you so much.
I talk a little bit about grain storage in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ALjeahz38o&t=85s
And here's the post that goes with that video: https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/grain-grinding/
The gist is that usually the eggs are already in whatever it is that you have bought, so it's a little less about keeping them out than it is about killing them before they can hatch. The freezer is a good place to do that! And then you can store the grains in an airtight container.
I have the white five gallon food storage bucket with a screw lid and I got mine from Lowe's. I wrote a little about that in this post: https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/five-frugal-things-ebay-fangirling/
Hope that helps!
I don't use Saran Wrap but I remember two hints that may be of use to someone. 1. Store plastic wrap in your fridge freezer and it will be easier to tear off a sheet and handle. (I remember wadded messes.) 2. Wrap raw meat SNUGLY in plastic wrap FIRST and then in another bag before freezing. It will keep from getting freezer burn.
Silicon sheets for baking work great to cover tops of bowls. And they of course work great in place of aluminum foil for baking/cooking. We also use those silicon sheets, that are sold as reusable placemats for babies, to cover bowls. They are a little sticky one side, so they stay in place well.
We have a set of fabric bags with Velcro on them that we use for food that don't necessarily need a plastic bag ie grapes, blueberries, pretzels.
I actually like the Aldi freezer Ziploc bags as they are pretty thick and will last a few washings.
And I thought I was the only person in the US who washed and reused my ziploc bags!
I thought most people washed and reused their bags! 🙂 My SIL has a board with skinny, tall dowels drilled into it and she hangs her bags on the dowels to dry them. I'm not that organized. I also re-use aluminum foil if it isn't gross.
Beeswax sheets work best for me to cover baked goods that are in a pan and don't require refrigeration. I've had similar issues as you, Kristen, with the floral silicone lid, but I do find it helpful for when I need to chill dough in a bowl in the fridge for a short period of time (I have bowls that don't have lids).
We wipe down or wash foil all the time and keep doing do until it is practically falling apart. My husband made one of those dowel and base things, using drift wood we collected while on vacation. Varnished so it is waterproof, it brings up many happy memories when I use it.
Ooh, that sounds wonderful! Useful art that makes for good thoughts and memories - what a great idea. And awesome to have a handy husband, too. That’s really frugal!
Oh no, you are definitely in good company here. Lots of frugal Americans do! 🙂
Totally with you on the Leuke and the Pyrex glass rectangles (AND the bowls). I use them just about every day.
I, too, have Stasher bags and I DO NOT like them..the opening is too small, and they are SO hard to reopen.
A much better alternative is pine beach. They are a thinner silicone, so take up less storage space, SO easy to open and close, and the opening is the same as the bag. I have 3 sizes and use them all the time.
I'm also into washing and re-using Ziploc bags. I had a box of quart size last 3 years bc I just kept washing them before I bought my pine beach bags.
Didn't love the Bees Wrap either. Didn't stick, and the smell was overpowering! kind of sticky-sweet-honey smell.
And jars. I use jars constantly. So easy to stick in the dishwasher.
I’m all for reusing bread, cereal, tortilla, etc. bags. Beyond that we use a set of Rubbermaid containers because they seal and stack well. For shorter term fridge storage I’ll often just put a plate over a bowl or vice versa. That solution is the easiest in terms of washing up because our everyday dishes fit so well in our dishwasher, unlike plastic containers. I’m also a fan of storing stuff in mason jars with plastic storage lids or the lids that come on Classico pasta sauce. Jars also fit great in our dishwasher and get fully dry, unlike plastics. I guess I like the methods that require the least of my effort. 🙂
We’ve greatly reduced our single use plastic consumption but I miss the ease of sandwich bags when I pack 5 lunches for school each day. I’ve considered going to a restaurant supply store and buying a case of paper bagel bags which we could at least compost after use.
Classico jars are great. It's one of the reasons that, on the rare occasions that I buy pasta sauce, I buy Classico.
I buy the organic Classico sauce in the three pack from Costco. The jars are larger and wider. I get replacement lids on Amazon.
I wash and reuse my Ziploc too, once they get to crappy stage I use them in the freezer to double wrap stuff that will be in there for awhile. I reuse bread and cereal bags too.
I use Repac bags for lunches. I'm not sure they make them anymore, mine are really old but in really good shape. They don't work with wet foods though.
I store most items in Pyrex or ball jars. I do have a cheap set of silicone lids, I don't use them much. I also keep my Tostito salsa type jars as they work well for fridge storage. We don't reheat in the anyway.
We bought canning jars and lids. They store most things in the fridge and pantry, and keep things pretty fresh.
For a long time we were using a hand held Vacuum Sealer from Food Saver and I bought the jar lid adapters for wide and regular mouth canning jars. This device sucks out the air and helps things stay fresh even longer. It's rechargeable. BUT, they don't last very long and I feel like throwing these devices away was no better for the environment, so now we just use the jars and canning lids.
I've had bad luck with glass in the freezer, though. So I do use plastic in the freezer and we try to re-use the plastic as often as possible. Often when I have leftovers from a can or jar of sauce, coconut milk, canned pumpkin, etc, I'll freeze it in silicone ice cube trays of varying sizes and then store the cubes (or whatever shape) in freezer bags.
I'm not a fan of silicone bags. I find it hard to clean all the nooks and crannies.
I use glass jars -- both Mason jars and jars I've rinsed and saved from things like pickles. This year I am using the jars for freezing some produce from the garden, such as chopped bell peppers and onions, or frozen corn on the cob (Freeze the corn on a cookie sheet, then dump in a quart jar and scoop out whatever you need for a meal.) They are not as easy to store in the freezer, so I still use Ziplocks for some things, but the glass is great for a hunk of cheese or some leftovers or a piece of avocado -- and it's usually free.
I would also like to add a bread box!
We bought one almost 2 years ago, and it's vastly reduced our plastic use for homemade bread. It really does keep homemade bread fresh on the counter for up to a week (depending on house humidity/temp, and the composition of the bread).
Ours currently has about a dozen muffins leftover from last night, and two loaves of bread (one partially consumed) that I made on Monday. The muffins usually are consumed within a couple of days, and the bread we slice and then store in the freezer if necessary (in plastic), but we usually go through that, too, before it can go bad.
This is the one we bought: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01D2CB9J8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I save and reuse most packaging that food comes in from the store. Bags with zippers are some of the most useful...cheese, nuts, popcorn kernels, tortillas etc. I figure if it held food in a store, it can hold it again in my house. It has become like a contest for myself to see how long I can go without buying things like ziplock bags/foil.
Years ago (1990's) there was some controvery about re-using bread bags as the ink they are printed with contained lead. If you choose to use these, do not turn them inside out so that the printing is against your food, and you should be good.
Also, I love the pyrex containers, however, do not put the plastic lids in the dishwasher. Over time, they become very brittle and crumbly. It costs more to replace the lids than than it does to buy a whole new set.
Oh yes, I always use the bags right side out.
I got some silicone lids for my Pyrex containers and I am very excited about them. I'm optimistic that they will last for a nice long time!