Tupperware alternatives: Cheap food storage containers
To hear the storage industry tell it, every kitchen needs plastic containers in a dozen sizes. You need specialized storage, too: triangles for wedges of pie, say, or deviled-egg sarcophagi with little divots to cradle each demi-oeuf. Oh, and lots of foil, waxed paper, and plastic wrap and bags to hold sandwiches and snacks or cover bowls of leftovers.
My boxes of foil and plastic wrap last me up to a couple of years each. And while I’ll cop to owning a few Tupperware and Rubbermaid pieces, it’s all hand-me-down stuff — and note that I said a few. I don’t need much, and I don’t use much commercial wrapping, because there are plenty of other ways to store food.
Note: Before I share these frugal hacks, I need to address the issue of plastic. Some people are very nervous about chemicals leaching into their foods. If this is you, then ignore all mention of plastics below and focus on the other ideas.
Use What You’ve Got
Don’t automatically assume you need special food-storage containers. Why not just put leftovers in a bowl with a saucer or bread-and-butter plate on top? If it fits snugly, it’s no different than aluminum foil or a plastic lid. (What? You thought that “burping” a Tupperware container got all the air out?)
Glass food-storage dishes are all the rage now, but glass jars work just as well. The next time you finish up some jam, pickles or spaghetti sauce, save the jar. (Quart canning jars are good for food storage, too, if you can get them cheaply. More on that below.)
The upside: They’re free. The downside: They don’t hold as much as those big Tupperware bowls — and they don’t stack like them, either, so they take up quite a bit of room in the cupboard. I keep only a couple of them around and recycle the rest.
When cream cheese goes on sale, I stock up on the soft variety. Not only is it easier to spread, it comes in a sturdy and reusable container. I use these for small amounts of leftovers, or fill them with individual servings of pudding. (I’m also using one for odd nails, screws and other bits of miscellaneous hardware.)
Empty margarine tubs work much the same way. They tend to be larger, but that’s fine — you can put small leftovers in a large container, but you can’t put large leftovers in a small container.
Bonus: If you’re sending food home with dinner guests, you don’t worry about getting the Gold’n Soft container back. Nobody’s walking out the door with my Tupperware, though, because it belonged to my mother.
I buy Wyler’s sugar-free lemonade, which comes in little packets inside a plastic container. These containers have proved useful for stacking Christmas cookies as gifts. When I’m making jam and have a small amount left over, I’ll put it in a Wyler’s container and give it to my sister or a neighbor.
It’s in the Bag
I broke my toe last spring. When I looked for a plastic bag to use as an ice pack, I was amused by the variety of choices. I had bags that once held hot dog rolls, bread, and frozen soybeans, corn and mixed vegetables. I had the inner liners from boxes of cereal and crackers. I even had a number of Ritz cracker sleeves.
Here are a few ways I’ve used these items:
- Plastic bags. I use these to store leftover meatloaf, chicken or pork chops and to keep home-baked goods fresh (I don’t have a cookie jar). Sometimes I slip a bowl of leftovers inside one of these bags.
- Ritz cracker wrappers. Cut up, they’re good for wrapping and freezing the hamburger patties I make when ground beef goes on sale. I secure them with rubber bands — since I still subscribe to a newspaper, I have tons of those things. A cracker wrapper is rubber-banded over the glass measuring cup of bacon fat sitting in my fridge. And I’m writing this from a house-sitting job; I used a Ritz cracker wrapper around the toothbrush in my toiletries bag.
- Frozen vegetable bags. I use them to freeze chili — or spaghetti-sauce-sized portions of cooked ground beef or chicken. Or I cut off the ends and cut the bag in half lengthwise; each half is the right size for wrapping those hamburger patties. (Originally I offered these to my sister, who owns a Golden Retriever. She declined because she prefers a bag she can tie shut and also because big dog = big poop. Bigger than 16 ounces? Yikes! Another reason I don’t have a dog.)
- Cracker/cereal liners. These are good for storing chicken or chops bought in bulk and then re-wrapped into smaller portions. If you cut the liners open, you wind up with what’s essentially a big piece of waxed paper. It can be cut into smaller pieces to wrap hamburger, whether cooked or in patties. Each summer I cut one of the large cracker liners to fit the cookie sheet on which I freeze gleaned blackberries. I freeze them until they’re solid before putting them in bags, to keep them from becoming one big lump.
And then there are the washed and re-used Ziploc bags. You just knew I’d bring that up, didn’t you? An MSN Money reader suggested buying only the freezer bags, which seem to be made of sterner stuff and will last longer. I can attest: Some of my zipper-type bags are on their fourth tour of duty for frozen blackberries.
However, if a bag has held raw meat then I tend to throw it out. Campylobacter and other nasties are nothing to fool with; to me, it’s worth occasionally tossing a bag vs. risking food poisoning.
Possible Frugal Hacks
Why pay retail? Here are some other ways to save on food storage:
- You can often find Tupperware and other storage containers in the “free” box at yard sales. Empty jars, too.
- I bought aluminum foil at an estate sale. Or, rather, I tried to buy it: The woman running the sale just gave it to me. If I’d paid, it would have been a quarter and it was one of those big boxes, too.
- Once I found waxed paper in the half-price bin at the dollar store. If you are very lucky there will be a clearance bin at your dollar store, too.
- Keep an eye on the Freecycle network — I’ve seen Rubbermaid, Tupperware and canning jars offered. Don’t see any? Put up a “wanted” ad.
You can paint these tactics as extremely green/frugal, or you can use them as an easy opportunity to make fun of extremely green/frugal types. Personally, I prefer to look at it as giving “throwaway” plastic at least one more use — and, yes, I’m saving money because I don’t have to pull a length of foil or plastic wrap off the roll. Have you checked the price of commercial wraps lately?
J.D.’s note: Donna’s right. It’s easy to make fun of frugal tactics like this. But remember how last May I spent ten days on a boat with my real millionaire next door? Well, he does all of these things and more. And the photo illustrating this article? That’s our own kitchen drawer — Kris has a vast library of re-used plastic bags and containers.
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There are 101 comments to "Tupperware alternatives: Cheap food storage containers".
Nice frugal tips! I forgot all about using a butter tub as a “tupperware container”.
I’ve got plenty of other frugal tips on my website. I focus on getting out of debt, saving money, and growing rich!
Ugh – no thanks – too much clutter. Where do you have space to store all this stuff? And what about the bugs it attracts? I prefer my matching plastic set with stacking, locking lids and see through containers.
If you live in New York (or possibly San Francisco), Chinese take-out containers make awesome reusable containers!
Very good article – and a good reminder of a few tips I have forgotten. It’s nice to know there are others out there who try to give things a “second life” when possible.
One other thing we did was get a smaller trash can (a little smaller than an office trash can) so we could use the plastic bags we get at the grocery store as trash bags. We try to compost everything we can and there are only two of us, so we don’t have a whole lot of trash anyway and now we don’t have to buy trash bags.
You know you’re frugal when….. you have as many freshly washed plastic bags flapping on the clothesline, as you do socks!
Donna, I use cereal bags just like you described, but I wondered if I was the only one! I never hear people talk about that.
And while I do use glass jars and bowls topped with plates as leftover containers, I don’t generally reuse plastic containers. I’m one of those people who is a little leary of plastic, so I swear by my glass Pyrex containers for leftovers. Love, love, love them.
I do like to reuse plastic food containers for other storage purposes, like for containing toys with small pieces.
Really, aluminum foil at an estate sale!
Seriously, my family uses yogurt containers (750g). They are great for my lunches and picnics.
Growing up my mom would even use the smaller containers as drinking containers for picnics.
Aluminum foil is one thing I won’t budget on – I am brand loyal for this (quality is important and I had bad luck the one time trying a new product).
Several brands of pre-packaged deli meat come in reusable plastic containers (stackable, locking lids, and see through). We have more of these in the cabinet than we’ll ever use, but they don’t take up much space since they’re all the same size.
The disposable Ziploc plastic containers are cheap too, and they apparently last forever (going on 4+ years now IIRC). Plus we don’t care if we give one to a friend with the leftovers or some cookies.
I thought everyone reused the butter tub!
After looking into plastic leaching, I only reuse the #5’s now and I am using my last bit of plastic wrap before switching to only waxed paper/foil. I clean and reuse the foil because I know how energy intensive it is to produce, but it is also expensive! Just like with a lot of household products, if I can find a low or no cost option I can use that money for something else (like chocolate!).
Lately I’ve been looking for a non-plastic way to store stuff in the freezer as I am trying to phase out Ziplocs. Any suggestions for that?
Tupperware freezer mates may be plastic, but they are BPA free and I swear by them. The food lasts longer in them, doesn’t get freezer burn like in bags and therefore it saves me money not throwing out ends of food anymore 🙂 Plus the stack well.
Great ideas, Donna!
I used to work in food services (a deli) so there’s one thing I wanted to warn people about. Many food containers (like margarine containers) aren’t made for repeated use. We don’t really know how long they’ll last and when they’ll break down.
I prefer to store food in glass, but I’m rarely paid full price for them. There’s a Pyrex/Corningware outlet store within driving distance of me, so I watch for their sales. Many pieces I picked up on BOGO sales, and the containers make great housewarming and bridal shower gifts.
@Chickybeth — perhaps try freezer paper, if you can find it? Sometimes I ask the meat clerk at the grocery store to wrap items in freezer paper for me so I don’t have to worry about properly storing meat. (it’s also easy to label).
I love 1-quart yoghurt containers – When I make a pot of soup on the weekend, I usually freeze a quart of it for another meal. Plus, as you mentioned, I can send things home with people or share a quart of soup with our neighbors, and not worry about whether I get that container back!
My husband and I also experimented with what we called “redneck margaritas” last summer – a batch of frozen margaritas, split between two yogurt containers. We stuck straws in them, drank about half, then put the lids on and stuck them in the freezer for later.
You Know,
It Wasn’t All Too Long Ago That I Used To Critisize And Joke With My Mom About Her “Overly-Frugal-Tupperware-Suppliments” That Is, Until I Started Doing Cooking And Buying Of My Own 😛
A Few Tips Worth Mentioning Though Are:
i) Be Careful What Was In The Bottle/ Container Before Hand, Not Only For Germ/ Contamination Reasons, But I Find The Smell (I.E. Pepper Bottles etc.) Can Still Ruin Newly-Placed Food In The Cleanest Of Containers.
ii) J.D. Once Mentioned The Value Of Using “Clear-Only” Containers, And Rotating The Stock of Your Fridge Or Freezer Ever So Often To Ensure Your Items Last Longer, And That You’re Eating What You Planned! (Ever Assume You Have An Ingredient Until You Open The Container?)
iii) Know When Enough Is Enough! Like #2 Mentioned Above, Sometimes Those Stacks Of Empty Containers Can Become Overwhelming Or Even Lead To Unecessary Hoarding, So, If Like Myself, You Enjoy Keeping Your Cupboards & Kitchen Clutter-Free & Tidy, Know When To Let Go!
Happy Wednesday, Everyone! 🙂
Good post — predicated on the assumption that we do indeed save and use leftovers. I’ve always loved leftovers. I’ve been surprised to hear of some people who actually throw leftovers away rather than take the trouble to wrap them and store them. That’s sad, both for them and the planet. It takes lots of precious resources to grow food, cook it and get it onto our tables.
Rock on, Donna and JD!
I started poking through the Complete Tightwad Gazette last night and read the piece on rewashing ziploc bags. I knew my Mom reused them but I’ve mostly thrown them away. Now I know better. I’m a huge fan of getting creative with other food storage though like containers from other things. This is definitely one of those things easy to make fun of but it also just comes across so sensibly too. Thanks!
Hm. I’m frugal, but I don’t like clutter. I have one set of tupperware and a few unmarked takeout containers that I reuse, and I find that serves me just fine. I cook everything from scratch and I don’t find myself needing extra containers or foil or anything. Foil, plastic wrap, etc, also lasts me a couple years. A lot of times when a recipe says to use plastic wrap or foil I just don’t, and it turns out fine. I lay a cookie sheet over the lasagna pan instead, or use a grocery bag to cover the bowl of rising bread (it doesn’t touch the dough anyway).
I’m coming out of the closet and I’m going to admit that I re-use plastic and glass food containers. I have read on many blogs about the dangers of doing this, but I don’t microwave the plastic and I have never had a problem with bugs as #2 stated. When I have too many containers, I just toss in the recycle bin. I am from a long lineage of women who have re-used food containers and I just don’t think twice about doing so. Every time I go to visit my Nanny, she sends me home with a cool-whip container with some kind of goodie in it.
Reuse?
Glass … yes.
Plastic … rarely.
While I am not overly concerned about plastics leaching into my food, I prefer to store items in glass everywhere except for the freezer. Save those jars … especially pickle jars with large mouths!
My wife and I use small Pyrex glass containers for most of our leftover storage. This is in part to avoid leaching plastic, but it’s also because they’re oven-safe. Because microwaves work by oscillating small (i.e. micro) electromagentic waves to make water molecules spin, that same effect can and often does kink other chemicals like fats into really unhealthy forms like trans fats. That’s part of why microwaved food tastes so different from oven-heated food. We avoid the problem by using a small convection oven to reheat most of our food, so storing our leftovers in small Pyrex containers makes it really easy to reheat leftovers (which makes them much more likely to be eaten!).
Thanks for the article!
I think everyone has to draw their own comfort level on this one. There is the space factor to consider – that if you have all that room to store this stuff, then maybe you are paying too much for a big house you don’t need or else your house is way too cluttered.
Then there is the forgotten food hidden in the margarine container problem too – if you can’t see it, you probably won’t remember to eat it.
I vascilate on this subject because I love living small but also try to be conservative about what I throw out/recycle. I find the biggest challenge in storing the containers and bags. I do love my Bag-E-Wash though!
I’m big on Pyrex. You can store things in it, heat things in it, eat out of it, etc. Since it is glass and not plastic it doesn’t stain, warp or develop scratches that can hide bacteria. Obviously there are uses for plastic (like if you have small kids), but most of my storage stuff is glassware. And it will last forever. I suppose if you have marble/granite in your kitchen it could break, but I have wood and soft countertops. The only think that will break is my toe.
I’m very careful about reusing bags, etc. Grocery stores are disgusting and anything I think may have come in contact with a shelf, etc gets recycled or thrown out. I just choose to sparingly use new products. I reuse foil all the time. It probably takes me a year or more to use an entire roll of plastic wrap.
I also just don’t have the patience to store all these reusable containers. I don’t like junk – I’d rather have empty cabinets.
I grew up in a household that saved and reused plastic sandwich bags, paper lunch bags, and plastic and glass containers of all sorts. I’m not sure if it was about saving money, being green (back before most people worried about being green) or just an odd family quirk. I used to tease my mother about it … until a few years ago my husband and I bought our first home, started cooking for ourselves more, and suddenly I found myself with a fridge full of leftovers in margarine containers, cream cheese containers, and hot dog bun bags. I am glad to see I’m not the only one!
I grew up like this and I still save containers on occasion. (We also stockpile the plastics we can’t curbside recycle and take them to the recycling place about once a year.)
But now that we have a kid I worry about BPA and whatever unknown chemicals they’re using to replace BPA and try to do most of my storage in pyrex and other glass containers.
#9 Chickeybeth. I use glass (pyrex) containers that have plastic lids. the primary reason I do this is because I prefer to heat up leftover meals in the oven and I dont have to pour anything out into another casserole-its a one move system. Also freezer paper. My only disagreement with Donna is about the air, In the freezer, the smallest container should be used (with the least amount of air pocket) and I do such the air out with a straw and or burb it.
@ #2 – Agreed!
@ #19 Michael – I’d be interested to learn more about what you said. Where did you find that information?
I use different sizes of canning/freezing jars for storage in refrigerator and freezer. They’re durable and can often be picked up inexpensively at thrift stores and yard sales. I find that being able to see what’s inside at a glance really makes a difference as far as using leftovers in a timely manner. I also like to use cereal/cracker bags for storing loaves of homemade bread.
I love tupperware containers and we’ve had them for many years. We also reuse zip lock bags. I want to see how much money you really save with aluminum foils and plastic wraps. I think it’s much better to keep reusing tupperwares. We keep the salsa containers around for a while too.
I know this is more about containers – but we store cut celery and carrots one-end-down in a container with shallow water – keeps fresh much longer. Wish I knew more tips like this for different types of food – any more?
We recycle like mad; our garbage bags generally last a while (which is fine unless a friend puts a dirty diaper in there — whoa that stinks after a while).
My absolute favorite “tupperware” right now is what I get my takeout sushi in. They have a nice lid and are the perfect size. I don’t get sushi often, but it is something I can’t make and am willing to pay for as a treat.
Another really nice thing from my mom is a box of things that looks like shower caps (I think http://www.covermatecovers.com/faq.htm) that just pull on over most anything. Clingwrap never clings, but this stuff, let me tell you, it works!!
We also use glass to reheat things and have glass containers with lids that we bought ages ago and work very well. (http://www.amazon.com/Bormioli-Rocco-Glass-Storage-Bowls/dp/B001J54XBW, but we got ours on clearance somewhere)
I’m currently VERY leary of using the oven with Pyrex. I recently had a dish explode when I put it in the oven (and it was not a cold dish –was already warm) — leaving gooey batter and tiny shards of glass everywhere. It took forever to clean up and was really scary. And it’s not just me: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/751340
I still have recurring nightmares of digging through my mother’s cabinets trying to find a pot or pan amidst the disarray of dozens of empty margarine tubs or Cool Whip containers. In fact, I just bought my mother a dozen Tupperware containers for Christmas so that she could get rid of all of those other ones. I just need my stuff more organized than a collection of miscellaneous tubs and bags can provide. I have all of my tupperware (about 10 sandwich boxes) stacked neatly on one shelf in one cabinet. Works for me.
Frugality is important when you are trying to save money, build wealth, get out of debt, etc. however I think some frugal hacks lean more towards the pack rat mentality than the frugal mentality. I say this from personal experience – I grew up in a frugal (pack rat) household and I am making every effort to not be the same way (moving every one to two years definitely makes you look at your possessions differently). A cluttered kitchen, to me, says a cluttered life. Saving something because you might be able to use it some day is a terrible way to live (and is even worse for the people who will someday have to sort through your junk).
Aside from that, if you buy healthy food, you don’t get as much packaging to save, which is a win for you and the environment!
I’m a big fan of transparent or translucent containers (glass or plastic) – stuff that gets stored in opaque containers just doesn’t get used as readily.
Draw the line at old fast-food containers – when we cleared out my grandmother’s kitchen, she had a cabinet full of old KFC styrofoam containers, blechhhhh….
And I have a garage sale stemware rack (that looks kind of like an elongated business end of a rake) mounted under the cabinet near my dish rack so I can slide freshly washed plastic bags on to dry.
All these tips remind me too much of my mother’s method of storing food, which frankly just grosses me out. Washed out bread bags that are still wet, reused containers that you never can find a lid for, plastic containers with some sort of unidentifiable residue on the inside….yuck! Plus she had to store all this stuff, which was always disorganized and took up a lot of space. And reusing Ritz crackers bags – those have tons of butter/oil in them. I can’t imagine how you can get the grease off the sleeve. And don’t even get me started on how my mother just throws leftovers in the fridge uncovered and leaves them there. The sad part is that if I gave her glass Pyrex as a gift, I imagine she would STILL do all these things. In some respects, I think she just thrives on making things difficult for herself. I don’t know why.
Because of of my mother, I am meticulous about my storage. We only use pyrex, and I love that it all stacks and fits on this lazy susan from Ikea. Compact, clean, and precise. And it only cost me around $40 and will last decades. My only bother is that sometimes you have to replace the lids, and they only sell them with the container, so you have to buy a whole new one.
When my mom died, I inherited her beautiful vintage Pyrex refrigerator dishes, baking dishes, and bowls. Amazing colors! Since then, I’ve been collecting Pyrex in antique stores, especially in the South, where a $42 Pyrex bowl on eBay can be found for $8. I now give Pyrex to my grown children for Christmas to add to their collection. We love our new tradition and the sense of history of each piece. The various colors are gorgeous. Tupperware and Zip-locs are not environmentally friendly, but glass Pyrex is. Plus it’s fun!
I’m with the other Pyrex fans–it’s really not that expensive, esp. if you find it at discount sales. It lasts forever, no worries about chemicals in plastic breaking down, you can store food and serve food because they look nice, and we really don’t need that many of them (and we cook all our meals from scratch). We also try not to have too many grocery bags and other plastics–we bring reusable bags to the store and have reusable mesh bags for produce.
It’s a worthwhile investment for us, but then, I’m a health nut and can’t deal with clutter. I don’t even like storing empty egg containers until I can bring them back to the egg vendor at the market (but I do it anyway)!
I have a whole cabinet full of empty jars and plastic containers. I also have a small set of Tupperware-like containers because sometimes it’s nice to have a sturdier container with a really tight-fitting lid. I draw the line at washing plastic bags and reusing plastic packaging, though. It just seems like more trouble than it’s worth for the amount that I use. A roll of plastic wrap or foil lasts me over a year. I do reuse ziplock bags for the same things (e.g., I frequently freeze bread and I use the same ziplock over and over for that).
I’ve been using wide mouth pint jars for more and more things over the years – they are great for leftovers, because you can freeze them (tempered glass) and also heat food in them safely. You can’t reuse flat lids for canning, but they’re fine for refrigerator or freezer storage – which means we have an infinite supply of lids. This year I got gallon canning jars for refrigerator pickles, and those hold more than any tupperware container, and are the same height as a gallon of milk so they use vertical space in the fridge.
The thing the reused plastic containers are great for is if you’re going to be taking them places (light, disposable) or if you have a lunch-taker who tends to forget bits of food in the container until it gets gross – an already-used, nonrecyclable yogurt container can be tossed with 0 guilt.
My grandma used this same method all her life and still does. I looked into it but found that these items degrade much faster and it’s hard to know when plastic is degrading into your food. I’m in the baby-making and breastfeeding stage of my life, so it’s worth it to be a little careful right now. Plus, these items are definitely not safe for reheating food. If I’d have to dirty a dish to reheat my food anyway, I’d rather have something that can go straight from fridge to table to microwave.
I invested in some of the glasslock storage containers they sell at Costco. It was well worth the peace of mind for me.
For Pyrex users, be careful of extreme temperature fluctuations, such as when taking an item out of the oven, moving the food to a plate and then putting the still hot container in the sink (where it contacts cold water). I’ve done this before and the Pyrex shatters into little tiny pieces.
Storage containers seems to breed. I don’t save yogurt tubs and I’ve never bought a set of plastic leftover containers (except three butterfly tupperware sandwich containers).
I would warn against reusing those plastic containers and bags for food. As many point out, they were not manufactured to be reused. I think one is better off just not using plastic bags in the first place.
And it seems funny to me to suggest re-using cereal bags. Cold cereal is so expensive. Why not just cut it out and save money that way?
I am reading about minimalism recently and I think minimalists might be on to something. They suggest that having more things, whether cheap or expensive, gives you the false impression you need more storage space and storage thingies (like baskets and dividers). They recommend not keeping anything you don’t use very regularly. Some only keep the stuff they need daily. One of my favourite bloggers only has two sets of cutlery for herself and her husband. If they don’t have something, they do without and get creative (like your plate suggestion). I’m not giving up my mixer, but I am thinking about conserving space and let my stuff multi-task.
We got bamboo steamers as a wedding present. I use them all the time. But they need replacing soon. My husband suggested we do what his Chinese roomates did – put a plate over crossed chopsticks in our wok. Those steamers take up lots of space and I always like to save a few bucks. I’ll be trying this soon. Apparently I never needed steamers at all!
I wish I had thought like this when I bought my house. I would have really questioned how much space we needed.
I have tried all sorts of containers. It didn’t matter, the food usually didn’t get eaten. Now we try to cook just what we can eat at one meal. This works for us, no leftovers and different food to alleviate boredom. If we want to eat the same thing two times in a row we just make it again fresh. This may be the answer for some people who don’t want to use plastic, organize stuff etc.
Which of these frugal containers work well for taking leftovers to your place of employment for lunch? A bowl with a plate on top, or old plastic bags don’t sound like they travel well.
The “clutter battle” stops me from keeping loads of these things, particularly a variety of plastic bags. I just do better overall with less clutter. There is however ONE drawer of plastic tubs. Some are the store-bought new ones, others are former food containers, but they ALL get re-used over and over again. There are also a few pieces of tupperware, but they are purchased with multiple specific uses in mind, and thus far, they’ve each been used over and over.
I have a stash of margarine and sour cream containers that I’m saving for seed starting. They’re the perfect size to start several seedlings. Just punch holes in the bottom and add soil.
Almost everyone I know – myself included – recycles at least some packaging.
I tend to favor glass; my favorite honey comes in great little 8 oz glass jars which are perfect for things like rendered duck or bacon fat, or hummingbird nectar; and a pasta jar is currently in use holding homemade cocoa mix.
We also recycle the takeout containers from our favorite Thai place. They last for several uses, are microwave safe, and are sturdy enough to use to transport lunches to the office. Our other favorite takeout place uses some new kind of biodegradable packaging that isn’t intended for reuse.
Recycling packaging is definitely a matter of individual comfort levels. I would never re-use a cracker bag, but then I almost never buy crackers, so there ya go. 🙂
I pack a lunch for work 95% of the time and I use my canning jars in pint or 1/2 pint or 1/2 cup sizes, depending on what’s needed. One or two or even three small ones fit easily in my lunch bag. I’ve never had one break either. I find the wide-mouthed ones more convenient to use.
Elysia – I love sushi too. We occassionally make sushi at home. (But we go out for it too!) We started with smoked salmon and veggie varieties and then graduated to raw fish! It’s not that hard or scary.
Ours isn’t as neat and it’s not as good as the best places I’ve been too. But we can play around. We even made teriyaki chicken and avocado sushi once. (Cooked of course)
It’s not expensive considering the cost of takeout sushi. I highly recommend it as a dinner party activity or doing it with a friend. It is lots of fun to make.
The only problem is that whenever we do make it, my husband always forgets we already have sushi rice. So we have three containers of it in the pantry.
To those who fear clutter: Keep just a few of these things on hand at a time. I live in a one-bedroom apartment with limited cupboard space, so I’m very careful about the number of repurposed containers I keep on hand (e.g., two pickle jars at a time).
@ #16 Sarah: A cookie sheet over the lasagna pan — brilliant! Thank you for that tip.
@ #2: Not sure why you worry about bugs. Why would an empty margarine container attract bugs any more than an empty Tupperware bowl if both of them are washed carefully?
@ #40 Tyler: I do have a couple of Rubbermaid containers (both from free box at yard sale) that I use to carry sandwiches or leftovers in my brown-bag lunches. Those other tips are for leftovers I don’t need to tote someplace.
I do have two Pyrex dishes (one my sister gave me, one from a yard sale). And yeah, I wash and re-use foil if appropriate. That’s another reason my box o’Reynolds Wrap lasts as long as it does.
Really enjoying the feedback and the extra tips. Thank you.
I used to save all of our plastic tubs (margarine, cool whip, etc.) but what I found was that it was too easy to forget what was in them until it was too late. We spend a couple hundred dollars a month on food, and if see-through containers cut down on the waste they are a very frugal purchase.
I also second Tyler’s point that you can’t really bring lunch to work in a margarine tub. I bought a couple Lock & Lock containers from Amazon recently because they are leak-proof and I can bring leftover stew and chili to work for lunches.
Like an earlier commenter, I buy mostly fresh food these days, so I don’t bring much packaging home. I do reuse plastic grocery bags as trash bags in my bathroom. I use pickle jars for holding bacon grease or other cooking fat, but only need one or two per year.
I have a small collection of Tupperware and “lesser” plastic tubs (store-bought) because I bring lunch to work every day. Glass is too heavy/breakable for that. I’m not crazy about using the plastic, but I live with it for now. I also use these tubs to store food at home, since I make big batches of soup, chili, sauce, etc.
If I have a near-term use for a bag or bin, I’ll keep it rather than throw it away. For instance, before the holidays I stockpiled plastic grocery bags, because I could use them to pad the boxes of gifts I was shipping. But if I don’t have a near-term specific use for it, I recycle. I just don’t want the clutter! Even with my small collection of plastic tubs, I get annoyed with the jumble of bins and lids in the cabinet.
My kitchen is small so I do have to limit the “clutter” non-stackable containers leaves behind. Its easy to take up a whole shelf with nothing but anon containers. I do save and re-freeze freezer bags (cut back on bacteria) to reuse to save money and reduce waste. In general, if I cant wash out a bag, I don’t want to reuse it though freezing works for me. I don’t buy or eat crackers and other snack foods, so I’m good there. 🙂
I also try not to buy items that require plastic. With the exception of yogurt, most items are purchased in bulk, in glass (which is healthier than plastic) and meats/fish is wrapped in butcher paper.
Hi. I grew up re-using plastic containers and did so into my mid-20s. But then I learned about the dangers of BPA, pthalates and other issues with plastics. Here in Vancouver, there has been a big swing away from using plastics of any kind, unless they say BPA-free. And the health authorities and even food manufacturers have cautioned us heavily against re-using plastic containers, let alone freezing and thawing, microwaving, using them in the dishwasher or putting hot food contents into them. Our biggest newspaper recently noted that BPA was the biggest news item of 2010. Canada was one of the first countries in the world to start passing legislation about BPA. I encourage you all to look into it. Switching to glass is a safer alternative. But if you’re going to use plastic, perhaps take some time to research safe plastics and make your own informed decision.
Oh, just wanted to add that one issue with re-use is that the containers are not designed for that purpose and break down and release toxins.
I wonder how much of this is more about the appearance of frugalness. The cost of storebrand aluminum foil, baggies, etc, is so little. I rarely buy these items, even though I feel free to use baggies. Also, if you use plastic bowls from a prior food purchase, it should NOT go through the dishwasher. The leaching issue increases if the plastic is exposed to high temperances of dishwasher water or dishwasher drying. (I’m much more aware of this after certain studies questioned the saftey of plastics which were initially thought to be OK for repeat usage, like baby bottles and sippy cups. The recycled type plastics aren’t even tested for that since they are not designed for reuse.) Washing by hand makes it more of a hassle. Finally, there is mental clutter–everytime I open my fridge and look to see the leftovers, I have to recall that the package labels are incorrect and think about what I did store in that container.
I realize different things work for different people, though. My mom uses these tactis and loves it–it makes her feel frugal. I hate it–it makes me feel more cluttered and messy and decreases my peace of mind, esp when considering the small price I pay
I really sympathize with the commenters above who grew up in households that reused containers, and hated it. Here’s what happened in our family because of this practice:
– saucers or plates used as covers over bowls would slip off as someone took them from the fridge and broke into a dozen pieces on the floor. Money wasted on the broken plate and also a safety hazard – esp if it’s summer and the plate falls on your bare feet!
– Nobody but my mom knew what was in the yogurt and margarine containers. Everybody else hated the look of them. She ended up always serving us our food. That’s not the life I want.
– there were never any plastic baggies available. So a lot of things that could be tossed into a bag and kept in the fridge – a half-squeezed lemon, half an onion, leftover chopped parsley – got tossed by the other members of the family directly into the trash.
– from time to time, somebody would peek into a container and find a fuzzy mess of mold. That health hazard had been in our fridge, right by the rest of our food.
– because there were no containers available into which to transfer opened bags of beans, lentils, nuts, these were kept in their original packaging. This would break or tear, spilling the contents all over the floor – more waste.
– herbs were also stored in their original packaging, all stuffed together into a small box. This inaccessibility resulted in bland food, but one day when i tried to use some herb, i found that the entire collection was infested with some bugs brought in with one of the herbs.
I think it’s really important not to let your own pleasure at being frugal backfire through the rest of the family.
I can’t believe people actually worry that putting food in a container and then eating out of it is dangerous, even when the container *came with food in it* when they bought it — food that they ate, without worrying about it.
Seriously people, the water that was originally put into your plastic water bottle wasn’t magic. If the bottle going to leach chemicals into water that you re-fill it with, it was going to leach it into the water that came in it in the first place.
And I can’t believe people worry about this stuff when they drive cars that spew out actual, measurable toxic chemicals as a condition of them being useful, or use bleach to clean things, or a hundred other things we do every day that are a lot more dangerous than plastic leaching into your leftovers.
I am a sucker for tins like the Walker’s cookies tins. And I loved the special print tins that General Foods International Coffee made several years ago (don’t know if they make them any longer since I’ve switched to tea).
The nice thing about the tins is they’re all ready decorative and not so very blah as just plastic and I use them in all manner of places, not just in the kitchen, office, tool shed, wherever something needs a home with a roof on it. 🙂
I never really thought of myself as being green and frugal for most of my life, but reading this article my first thought was “Doesnt everybody do this?”.
I dont like clutter, but old plastic containers have so many uses like organizing tools, cords, and computer parts.
Sewingirl says:
You know you’re frugal when….. you have as many freshly washed plastic bags flapping on the clothesline, as you do socks!
Now that’s funny.
Storage of food and such has always been a bother for me. To find the lids that match up, the clutter, well, you get the idea.
I bought this container set in which the lid has to be closed in on all 4 sides manually. It might seem like a bother, but it works really well.
Because I’m now so happy storing my food in these containers, I found that I use them often. The old containers are stored somewhere else and used when company takes home left-overs.
This may not be quite as frugal but it was inexpensive and saves tons of space in our kitchen: We purchased drinking glasses that came with lids (from bed, bath and beyond). We have them in two sizes – a juice glass and a water glass. Because the glasses are multi purpose they get tons of use. And, the lids are much easier to store than a bunch of oddly shaped containers. I figure we’re saving space, of course, but also money because we’re using one item for multiple purposes.
I bought the Tupperware freezer containers… when they were buy one get two free. Safer than reusing store containers… those containers aren’t designed for reuse, and they release too many toxins into the food, especially if you microwave them.
@Tyler–Some containers are meant to be single-use, disposable containers, not to be reused over and over. Water bottles are usually made from polyethylene terephthalate, which is meant for one-use only. After the one use, it has been shown to leach DEHA, a “possible human carcinogen.”
Will it directly cause cancer? Probably not. It’s not a proven carcinogen as far as I know. But I’d rather use reusable containers like a stainless steel bottle to cut down on plastic waste and avoid ingesting DEHA altogether. I don’t use chemicals like bleach, either, just to avoid more toxins.
I do drive a car, but just because I can’t eliminate *every* toxin from my life doesn’t mean I’m not going to eliminate the ones I can.
Toxins are only one of many reasons I prefer Pyrex, though!
I’m not really convinced about the leaching of chemicals via plastic, but as April writes, that’s not the only reason to use Pyrex. The main reason I prefer Pyrex is because I hate cleaning plastic. It never seems to get as clean. Glass is non-porous, which means that you can be sure it is really clean. Plus it is easier to put in the dishwasher, because it is heavier and doesn’t fly all over the place like plastic often does. And Tupperware just gets gross if you heat it in the microwave.
But to each his or her own!
@56 Tyler K
What @62 April said. We do what we can.
Also, that’s why we have water filters all over our house. Buy organic local food whenever possible. Have organic (wool and natural latex) mattresses and (cotton) pillowcases and sheets. Use white vinegar as our main cleaning agent. Don’t use non-stick. And on and on.
I also didn’t care all that much before we had a kid. But I care now, and can afford to care.
My mom has cupboards full of old margarine tubs, cool whip containers, and yogurt cups. Whenever we stay with her I can never find actual margarine because her frig is full of margarine containers with other kinds of food in them. 🙂
Hey Donna, great to see you writing here! Congrats on the new gig!
This article made me laugh, because I also reuse plastic containers for food storage, and it was fun to read about your experiences with reusing containers. I save the plastic tubs from takeout, and they’re all the same size and have interchangeable lids, so they stack neatly in my cupboard. On the occasions that I buy fresh mozzarella or yogurt, it’s always the same brand of each, so they also stack neatly. Most of the containers are clear, so I can see what’s inside them without a problem, and whenever something goes in the freezer, I label the container with painter’s tape and a marker, first. Whether the container’s clear or not, it becomes hard to tell if a container is holding beef fat or unrendered lard, or chicken, veggie, or turkey stock.
I threw away all my tupperware several years ago–because after 15 years of cooking for my family I learned that nobody likes to eat leftovers anyway—they just sit in the fridge and get disgusting.
Now I just buy and cook only the amount of food my family actually eats–so we rarely have leftovers. If we do, it’s easy to put it on a plate and cover it with plastic wrap. It’s simple, cheap and I don’t have to wash by hand or figure out where to store all those icky plastic containers anymore–yay!
@April:
What about before or during the first use? What is the magical trigger that causes the bottle’s molecular chemistry to change when it’s emptied and refilled with different (but chemically basically identical) water?
If it leaches, I’d imagine it always does, not just “after the first use”. I don’t see where it’s safety would change because of being emptied, especially since a plastic water bottle is likely to sit for weeks or months full of water before it’s first use, all the while potentially allowing chemicals to leach into the contained water, yet a refilled water bottle will probably be used up within the day, not allowing for much leach time.
If you can post a study that proves me wrong showing that the behavior of the bottle actually changes just by emptying and refilling it, I’d love to see it.
Nothing I buy comes in such containers, except maybe a jar here and there. I buy meat, fish, fresh vegetables, eggs and bacon. The vegetable baggies are reused for dog poop pick-up.
I do not have “leftovers” per se, since I plan only a modest amount per meal, and it gets eaten. I do roast a lot of meat at once and chop it up for lunch salads, and put it in Rubbermaid containers. I used to put it back in the Pyrex bakeware I made it in, until reading in Consumer Reports about issues with Pyrex bakeware. I really only need five or six Rubbermaid containers….one extra large for rinsed lettuce, and a few for shredded red cabbage and the aforementioned meat bits.
A roll of foil–I think mine is ten years old, if not older. I finally used up a twelve-year-old roll of plastic wrap when I was painting; it’s great for masking windows!
I use my Corelle cereal bowls for leftovers. I just slip a saucer on top to cover. When I am ready to eat leftovers….the salad is already in it’s bowl or the leftover chili can be put straight into the microwave to heat and then be eaten from the same bowl.
I like the plastic containers for take out salads from Costco….I keep them to use for cookies etc that need to be taken to a potluck meal and that I can leave behind.
I also reuse a lot of large yogurt and cottage cheese tubs for propagating plants for sale.
I love my lock and lock.
They don’t leak in my lunch bag (key! ) and stack nicely in my single use storage container cabinet.
I always thought everyone reused baggies that didn’t touch meat.
April, Tyler, and others who might be interested, the polyethylene terephtalate (PETE) water and soda bottles don’t contain plasticizers; the phthalate ester is part of the polymer and so it doesn’t leach. PVC, used to make medical equipment like blood bags, needs a plasticizer blended into it to make it malleable, and so phthalate plasticizers such as diethylhexylphthalate(DEHP)are added. The leaching is a physical process that occurs over time, accelerated by heat. After losing all their plasticizer, plastics get brittle. In the old days it was the origin of the “new car smell” from plasics in the dashboards–they’re probably made of something else now. For an interesting summary, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phthalate.
I don’t believe the common container plastic high density polyethylene (HDPE) contains plasticizer but certainly the newer food containers will have been tested. Full disclosure: I’m a chemist, but I don’t make plastics, I just know a little about them.
In Canada milk is available in 4 litre bags: 3 sealed pouches contained in one larger bag closed with a plastic clip. My grandmother used to rinse out and reuse the pouches because they were about the same strength as freezer bags. Now that grocery bags are 5 cents each, I use reusable bags and bins, but I reuse a rinsed out larger outer milk bag to keep my meat separate from everything else in my bin. The milk bags accumulate in my house faster than I shop for grocery store meat, so I give the extras to a friend with a large dog (they are an appropriate size).
To conserve the more expensive ziplock bags I often wrap meats (esp raw) in clingwrap before putting in the ziplock and then freezing. They are better protected and if I move the clingwrapped meat to a glass dish before defrosting, the ziplock is still clean and reusable. I also often do this with cooked meats. If I really need a ziplock I try to use the sandwich size ones since they are much much cheaper.
This is a great post. I’m also a frugal reuser and am on board with several of these practices, but you’ve shown me ways to take it to a new level. I love your informal, folksy delivery. We’d be buddies if we knew each other. Thanks! :o)
I save and reuse glass jars, ziploc bags and also use various plastic containers to store food, some recycled and some not. But I have a lot of space for storage. I also wrap and store meats in the freezer by wrapping them them first in the produce plastic bag material and then put these plastic wrapped packages in ziplock bags, some recycled from buying food products (washed and as long as they did not hold a meat or fish). I tape them shut with Scotch tape. I cut the plastic produce bags so they lay flat and use that to wrap things including my lunch sandwich. This saves me from having to buy and use as much foil or plastic wrap. I also recycle other food plastic bags this way, such as bread bags. Sometimes I just reuse the bread bag as is and other times I will cut it with scissors to flatten it.
A few frugal tips learned from family members:
Grandma Sugar always said that the cereal box liners are great as freezer bags. (To be honest, I’ve never tried it but I don’t know why.)
My mother in law uses shower caps (found free in fancier hotel rooms) to cover large bowls (of salad, fruit salad, etc.) stored in the fridge. The elastic band around the shower cap keeps the fit snug against the bowl.
I use quart canning jars to store homemade soup or chili at home, I hate putting soup in a plastic container, plus it’s easy to pour the right amount of soup into a bowl or pan to reheat.
On another note, I love those glass Pyrex bowls for storage, but I wish they were easier to grab out of the microwave, they store so nicely but are very slippery when hot and have no “lip” at the top to make it easier to grab.
Re: taking lunch to work in cream cheese containers…
I take my lunch to work almost every day. I usually carry leftovers in reused plastic containers. To avoid microwaving in plastic, I simply transfer the food to the glass bowl or the stoneware plate that I keep at my desk. Eating off real dishes with metal utensils makes my leftover lunch feel more civilized. And my 12-ounce bottle of ultra-concentrated dish soap has lasted for well over a year of daily washing up after lunch.
Nothing new to add, except that this is a gem of a line:
“deviled-egg sarcophagi with little divots to cradle each demi-oeuf”
😀
Didn’t read all the comments so this may be a duplicate, but be sure and throw out the ziploc-type bags that you’ve stored cheese in as well as bags you’ve used for raw meat. I believe it’s possible listeria contamination that’s at issue.
Hmm…this post is something I never expected to see covered. Reusing Ritz cracker wrappers? Really? To each their own. I’ve never had a big issue storing food…usually a plate or bowl covered with Saran wrap suffices. I do have some of those plastic containers, but still gravitate to the plate and saran wrap method, since the plate just goes in the dishwasher, it’s microwave safe, and the saran wrap goes in the trash. I don’t find myself spending excessive amounts of money on saran wrap nor do I waste time and space cleaning and storing random plastic containers. If it works for you, I guess that’s great. It’s something I really hadn’t thought about before, but it just seems like there’s no need to clean and store hot dog bun bags and cracker wrappers…I feel like my life would be more cluttered and complicated by these tips.
I thought about cooking in advance and storing all the food to be used when hungry but it’s definitely a commitment I have to build myself up to. Dollar Tree and Big Lots have some decent food storage available too.
@Hilary: As noted in the piece, I look at this as giving already-used plastics one more shot vs. buying more. But you’re right: To each his own.
These are all great ideas. My biggest challenge is storing all these odd-shaped containers, which I think is probably the true appeal of commercial containers. That’s what I’m working on right now in my kitchen…how to manage the overflowing menagerie!
The bags inside cereal boxes are very sturdy. If you open it up and spread it on the counter, it can replace a cutting board. Not having to scrub and sanitize a cutting board saves time, energy and household cleaners. It makes a nice surface to do such things as:
a) Roll out and cut dough for pastry, bread or cookies. b) Prepare sandwiches and snacks. c) Cut up vegetables. d) Grate cheese, vegetables, chocolate, etc. e) Pound and/or cut up meats. (You can also slip the meat inside an intact bag to do this.)
These sturdy bags can also be used in the microwave oven. They don’t melt like plastic does. Cut it in a shape to fit the top of the food/ dish; the food will heat more evenly and it prevents splatters. You can also cut a piece to fit underneath the food/ dish.
If you’re into crafts and other projects, these sturdy bags have many uses. For example, a paint brush can be temporarily stored in one to keep the paint from drying if you’re interrupted, you take a break, or run an errand. The bags can also be cut into petal and leaf shapes, and even painted, for floral-type arrangements.
For the smaller-sized bags from boxed products (such as graham crackers), these are excellent to divvy up snacks and cut-up vegetables into individual portions to take to work or school.
Nearly a decade ago, I quit buying trash bags, aluminum foil, waxed paper, food storage bags, and so on. Over time, it saves a lot on the grocery bills and has less impact on the environment.
My mother has always reused plastic containers from margarine, etc. I do so, too, but to a lesser extent.
I’m surprised no one has yet mentioned one of the best things about Tupperware brand containers: they are guaranted for life. I found out how great this was when one of roommates ruined the lid of a Tupperware container I’ve had for many years. (He didn’t realize it wasn’t microwave safe and it shrunk to uselessness after repeated microwaving.)
I looked up Tupperware’s phone number online and called them thinking that I would simply have the roommate reimburse me for the replacement lid. Instead I found that Tupperware would replace the lid *for free* and only charged a flat $5 shipping fee. The agent asked if I had other lids or containers I needed to replace, too. I could only remember one at the time, but I got two new lids for $5 shipping.
So if you do run across Tupperware bowls and lids at yard sales and thrift stores, don’t hesitate to pick them up if the lid or bowl is a bit damaged. As long as you can read the code on the bottom of the bowl or on the lid, you can call up Tupperware and get replacements for a flat shipping fee.
(Even my mom didn’t know this and when I was helping her put leftovers away after a recent dinner it came up. I told her to write down the numbers from the bowls or lids that needed replacing and we could combine an order together!)
Please recycle those plastic bags. Even though we try to always use our reusable grocery bags somehow we end up with all kinds of plastic ones. Once a month we take them back to one of the stores that has a collection bin for recycling.
I do like the idea of using plastic containers you get from products instead of buying storage containers.
@Kay Lynn: I’m fond of reusable shopping bags myself (always have at least one in my backpack), but when I do get plastic grocery bags I use them as kitchen trash-can liners. Since I’m single and since Seattle has major recycling, I generate very little trash. A plastic grocery bag will last a week or more.
So instead of buying plastic trash-can liners, I give the (free) grocery bags one more use.
We try to void the plastic containers as well. I love keeping the glass jars from spaghetti sauce or other things and using those for soups or whatever else works (lasagna doesn’t work well in those).
I recently got baby food jars from some neighbors and used them for some home-made Christmas gifts (vanilla).
I was raised to be frugal and reuse, in our house, if you did not bring your brown paper lunch bag home with you from school – you carried your lunch without a bag!
We were also taught to lay the paper towel back on the roll to dry if you only used it to dry your hands, so it could be re-used!
I don’t carry my lunch in a brown bag anymore, I have a reusable one..and I no longer have paper towels in the house – I use clean cloths for that. I DO wash out my Ziploc bags, and reuse jars/plastic containers. Those that cannot be reused, get recycled. I also got laughed at by coworkers for saving the aluminum foil from my lunchbox, so I could wash it and use it again!
I use lots of pimiento in the little 2 oz and 4 oz jars. When canning fruits/jelly, I can put dribs and drabs of jelly or jam in them and give them away–always refrigerated since they don’t reseal. People love getting a taste of what I doing.I LOVE Tupperware and have many small storage pieces. Corningware and iron and stainless steel are all I use for cooking. Of course, the Corningware is great for storage. The only canning jars that can be used for freezing are the straight-sided ones. After a moth infestation, I now only use glass jars or Tupperware for shelf storage. I will use glass spaghetti jars for shelf storage or for the refrigerator storage. The yogurt container types are used to send food home with people. I do request that they NOT be returned. Some days I look in the lower cabinet and find too much plastic that originally had store-bought food. I pare and throw out what won’t fit within a certain space in a lower cabinet. I put a saucer over leftovers that aren’t stored in glass. Sometimes I use plastic wrap, just depending… I bought cereal for $.75, so the liner bag was a bonus. These made a great container to pour grease into. Cracker bags from inside the box make great bags for a sandwich or crackers and cheese or cut fruit. The cut fruit will not get drippy and ooze through any unseen hole in the cracker liner/bag. Sometimes, I just make a cracker or cereal bag into my trash container.I have a large Folger’s coffee container under the sink that holds crushed eggshells that I feed to my three hens. I get Tupperware canisters without top at yard sales and then find the cannister tops. So, often I get free or dirt cheap cannisters!
I am a frugal, environmentally conscious minimalist. It never occurs to me to buy something when I have something I can use for free – rags instead of paper towels, reused food containers, bags.
I buy very few processed products, so I don’t generate a lot of “throwaway” containers. The ones I do generate, I use for taking lunch to work (an ample amount of pasta salad fits in a 32-oz yogurt container) and throw them away at work. I store them in one shelf of a cupboard with the lids on – a mixed assortment of reused food containers (which I never use to reheat), Gladware left at my house from potlucks, glass containers. I make a ton of chicken/turkey stock and freeze it, and I always use the 32-oz yogurt containers for this. I use a Sharpie on the lid to identify contents, and the ink often washes off.
I have a reusable Chicobag which cuts down the plastic shopping-bag population significantly. I also use the shopping bags for garbage liners, so I get those from my boyfriend when I run out. We use “dry garbage” practices, so plastic bread bags etc are used for when I have to throw away something that would gross-up the garbage and can’t be composted (leftover foodstuffs from turkey-stock making, for instance). Oh, and cat-box cleanup.
Tip: much Tupperware is guaranteed for life. I’ve found old cracked containers at garage sales for free, only to turn them in and get a brand-new one for free (or for a $2 cost of a matching lid).
I know I’m a little militant about this stuff, but we were raised poor and it works for me. Just don’t ask me about condiment packets – LOL
Jeez, if I ever get like this somebody please put a re-used plastic bread bag over my head and put me out of my misery.
The $10 +/- a year I spend at the Dollar Store for storage bags more than makes up for the time and space it would take to save Ritz cracker tubes (the occasional mouse who visits my house wants Donna’s address).
But I do agree on the re-use of Chinese food/salad bar plastic containers. Those are tee-rrific! And all my co-workers think I eat out alot.
Thanks Donna!
Dandyrose – I was raised poor, too, but I think that’s stealing.
I had too many of the plastic containers sitting around so I packed up the newest and took a bag to church. We have potlucks every other week and they came in very handy to send small amounts home with the single members and to be taken to the homebound. So they got at least one more use.
I just bought 5 pyrex dishes with plastic covers on “holiday” clearance at my grocery store. I like that I can use in freezer, micro and oven. I pack one each day to share lunch with my boyfriend. We decided that we go out for lunch too many times, so if we bring lunch 4 days, we eat out the 5th.
I mainly use Pyrex and other such glass and ceramic containers for storing food. However, I noticed that Pyrex lids are not exactly leak proof, which is a problem for taking lunch to work. What works for me, and isn’t ridiculously expensive, is glassware from Crate and Barrel. The “Working Glass” line works like a dream. The glass is thick walled and the lids on the bowls are super tight. They are straight sided, but round, which is my only complaint. I’d love a square or rectangle that would be more space efficient. The small bowl is a good portion for lunch and costs about $4. I don’t have any of the larger ones, but those are $9. The lids can be purchased separately for $1-2. The glasses come in two sizes as well. I only use the large one, it easily holds the contents of a 12 oz. can of soda, plus ice. When you have a cup of milk left, you can just pour it in and pop a lid on. It costs about $2-2.50 for the glass and $.75 for the lid. If I must bring something in plastic that needs to be reheated, I have a place setting stashed at work. One salad plate, a soup cup, a drinking cup/glass, a set of utensils, and a kitchen towel instead of paper napkins. Like my mom, I do save the occasional container or reuse a bag, but my mom has no sense of organization whatsoever when it comes to these things. I can never find a lid when I need one!
Growing up we always used Mason jars as glasses. They don’t break easily and if you ever wanted to save your drink for later you could just put the lid on it.
Good stuff to know. I like the comment on the plastic #5, will have to check it out. Used to save all my containers, but found out I actually did get sick from bpa stuff, so cleared my cabinets and spent $ :(. But, you should save your spice containers! I am learning how to make my own blends, and gave some as gifts. Very handy
Very useful ideas, but I use my glass containers. Honestly I approve using zip-locks and others, and I’m all about recycling don’t get me wrong, but the foods tend to take up on the smell that has been in the plastic bags/boxes/whatever originally.