Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Food Storage: Alternatives to Plastic

glass food storage bowl, with farm animal design

Some plastic food storage containers are safer than others, as I've noted before. But if you were already concerned about plastics, the latest research might increase those concerns; it indicates there may be problems even with BPA-free plastics.

I'm not trying to tell you not to use plastics; that's very much an individual decision, based on the imperfect knowledge we have now. But for those who do choose to avoid or minimize plastic food storage, let's look at some of the alternatives — beyond those I've listed before.

1. The storage bowls from Fishs Eddy are a fun choice. That's one of them, at the top of this post. They come in 16- and 24-ounce sizes, in a variety of patterns.


glass storage bowls with lids

2. Duralex, from France, also has glass storage with plastic lids. You can also see them at the Duralex USA web site. One place to buy them is Chefs.


airtight glass food storage with stainless steel lid, square

3. Sanctus Mundo has a number of interesting storage choices, mostly stainless steel. But the company now also sells airtight glass storage with stainless steel lids, which you can buy at Life Without Plastic. These containers come in several different sizes. [via Care2; thanks to the friend who sent me to this blog post]


fabric food covers

4. If you like the idea of glass storage containers but don't like the plastic lids they often come with, take a look at the fabric food covers at Hunter Gatherer. [via Remodelista] Update on Feb. 18, 2014: These are called BowlOvers, and you can now find them on the BowlOver website.


fabric food bowl covers

5. You can also get reusable bowl covers in a whole range of patterns from Taila Custom Designs.

Related Posts:
Plastic Food Storage: OK or Not?
Reader Question: Glass Food Storage
The Latest on Plastic Food Storage - And Alternatives
Another Scary Thing, as We Approach Halloween: BPA

4 comments:

Cynthia Friedlob said...

I remember my mother and grandmother using various sizes of bowl covers similar to the fabric versions you show from Taila Custom Designs, but theirs were plastic -- like little shower caps! I recall that eventually it was deemed more "modern" to cover everything with aluminum foil, then plastic wrap took over. Most amusing to see a return to reusable bowl covers and nice to see them in washable fabrics.

JustGail said...

I like the idea of fabric covers. I do wonder how well they work in modern refrigerators though. If I leave anything uncovered, it turns into a dried out lump fast.

Ashley DeMazza said...

I love the food covers! It reminds me of when I lived in New Zealand. My host mother always covered with cloth. Thank you for sharing.

Ashley DeMazza
Falls Village, CT

Jeri Dansky said...

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who was quite taken with the food covers. Finding them was what inspired me to do this post.

JustGail, I guess we could simulate the covers with a cloth napkin and a large rubber band, or some twine, to see how well they might work.