Can we talk for a minute about plastic? We’ve gotten addicted to the Planet Green channel, and are constantly thinking about how we can incorporate more of what we see there in our real world lives. One of those things that I’ve been thinking on is plastic and how we use it. We use plastic a lot when it comes to food, and I can’t help but think to myself, is this really a good idea? Plastic is toxic, and while I’ll readily agree that there are places for plastic, I’m thinking it would be better to eliminate some of it from our food process.
For example, I am not willing to let go of my Tupperware pantry storage system. The Tupperware will last forever, there’s not chance of breakage, and because I’m simply using it to store grains, flour, beans, nuts, etc., there is no heating of it or scratching it, and it keeps my supplies fresh, dry, and most importantly, ant free. But what about cold storage? I was recently thinking that I should pick up a new set of Rubbermaid for leftover storage, but now I’m thinking that maybe I should go a different route and start using my glass mason jars for leftovers. Glass is completely safe to use, and completely recyclable. It will break down to be reused for a different purpose, where the plastic containers, when tossed, will not break down. Pretty much ever.
With all the concerns about plastic leeching into food, I will say this, I don’t 
re-heat food in my plastic storage containers. Even though it means an extra dirty dish in my dishwasher-free home, I will remove the contents of a container to a bowl or plate before placing in the microwave, or heating on the stove in a pan. Then there’s plastic wrap. Which, unfortunately, I use a lot. Not in the microwave for reheating, but I wrap a lot of things in plastic wrap before they go in the fridge- cheese is a great example.
Then there’s the plastic cooking utensils and the teflon coated cookware… I was using just stainless steel for the longest time, but I had to use a good amount of oil every single time I used it. I still use it plenty, but I really prefer to use non-stick cookware with just a tiny measurement of oil. It’s a bit of a conundrum, do I go with the extra calories the added oil will provide? Or do I go with the not-so-reassuring non-stick cookware that could someday be a hazard to health?
And what about all that food packaging? Does anyone else find it odd that you can look down the organic and natural foods aisle and see so many plastic containers and bags? If plastic is such a hazard to the environment, shouldn’t these organic and natural foods companies be looking for alternatives? I already use my green bags to go grocery shopping, but if I want to buy some chicken, it’s always going to come wrapped in plastic on a Styrofoam tray.
We’ve also been guilty about reusing those plastic water bottles. Years ago I bought some SIGG bottles for the kids, and one for Andy, but I’ve just kept on using the plastic ones. That’s going to change, as I just ordered a new bottle for myself, but that one water bottle only holds so much, what do we do when we’re traveling? We can’t fill our bottles at every water fountain where we stop- have you tasted that water?
I recently found a great guide to green plastics, called The Green Guide, and it gives a good breakdown of acceptable plastics and not-so-acceptable plastics. I’m surprised by some of the things I find on the list, yet also surprised by what I don’t find on the list.
So what do you say? How do you feel about plastic? Have you made any recent changes, or do you plan to? I’d love to know what my readers think about plastic.
Oh my goodness – I feel the exact same way that you do. I NEVER re-heat in my plasitc container – everyone here at my work laughs at me because I have a variety of “real” bowls, plates and even have “real” flatware. I went through my so called reusable water bottles months ago and found that they were are #7’s – so I got rid of them. I hate that when I shop at some stores- the veggies always come plastic wrapped. I know this helps keep the veggie germ free, but how about the the stuff absorbing into the veggie from the plastic. Thanks for linking that website….I use to use only plastic containers for food storage,but I hated putting warm leftovers in them and worry about all the washing – might break down some of the chemicals, so I have changed to glass pryex storage container and mason jars. I make sure that the food does not touch the plastic lids. Thanks for bringing up a great topic for discussion
LOL – um, no changes for me.
Sam, it’s a catch-22 isn’t it. Germs or plastic? I was looking at some of my containers, and they’re the old #7’s, and that has me wondering, am I better off continuing to use them in a limited capacity? Or am I better off sending them off to rot in a landfill for pretty much forever? Neither sounds like a good solution to me.
Lol Darius. 🙂
I’m with you, I don’t ever reheat anything in a plastic container and we’re also trying to do away with a lot of our pastic storage. I’ve seen glass bowls with lids that I’d like to get for refrigerator storage, but my biggest problem is what to do about FREEZER items? I use zip-lock freezer bags allll the time. We don’t use non stick cookware, instead we use our iron skillet for a lot of things, which (if seasoned properly) works much like a nonstick pan. We coat it with a little bit of olive oil and it works great.
Rina, I hear you on the freezer items. I’ve used other containers, and nothing works as well as freezer bags for keeping air out. Fortunately, the brand I use, the Ziplock freezer bags, is on the safe plastic list that I linked to above. I think as long as I’m putting cooled food into the bags, and not heating at all in them, I’m doing okay.
I need to work on bulking up my cast iron. I need some bigger skillets and then I’d probably use those instead.
This post took me by surprise because these were exactly my thoughts!! I haven’t been using plastic for a very long time now (since 98) but have a tupperware kitchen too. I sensed this was OK since I wasn’t going to throw the containers for a long time and I am right too about that. My vessels and left over storage is all stainless steel. The non-stick info. propelled me to discard and use cast iron like my Mom but the thought of the oil needed dissuades me! I must read that link now:)! Very thoughtful post and made very good reading too!
Thanks for your thoughts Sunshinemom. I have come to no conclusions myself yet… to completely overhaul even the leftover storage containers would be an expense, and then, well, you’re still left with plastic that needs to be disposed of. And every time I use the plastic wrap, I think about the alternatives, and I just keep coming up blank.
I expect I’ll be bringing this up again in the future. 🙂