A reader emailed me a question recently about how to get rid of plastic containers for food storage. I was happy to share with her what I use in my home. I hate using plastic to store food in because it can leach chemicals into the food and the production and disposal of plastic causes a lot of environmental problems. Plastic just doesn’t last either.
So in my home I use a lot of glass. For leftovers and food storage in the fridge I use pyrex containers. There are a lot of sleek modern pyrex bowls and containers you can pick up at virtually any store but personally I like to use vintage pyrex that has been well used. It is more attractive and I like to reuse items before I buy new. Also the new pyrex containers have plastic lids. The older versions have glass lids. Some of my pyrex collection is easily 50 years old and they look like new. Vintage pyrex also has resale value.
For loose items like crackers, cereal, dried beans, trail mix, and pasta that come wrapped in plastic I put 
those in glass jars with glass lids that I got from Ikea. I have had them for many years now and they are still going strong. They sit on a cupboard shelf or on on my kitchen counter. Storing items like these in this way makes it more likely for me to buy from the bulk containers at the health food store so I don’t even have to buy products with excess packaging.
During yard sale season you will always see me make a beeline for the vintage pyrex. :)
I’ve been looking at using glass storage too. I really wish I had noticed the glass container early on when we were going through my grandma’s things after she died. There was a beautiful old glass container, and after someone else got it, I found out it was an old food storage container.
Green SAHM’s last blog post..Greener Cleaning Supplies
And for you Pyrex addicts out there, there’s always:
http://www.pyrexlove.com/
Share the love!
Random thought…have you considered taking your Tuesday Eco Tip and using a Mr. Linky to host a carnival??
Much of my pyrex came from my grandma. :)
I read about the leaching after I found out I had endometriosis. It is most likely to happen with heat (ie warm or heating food) or citric acid (ie tomato based foods). I found the change a bit difficult but not impossible. Now I use only stainless steel, glass, cast iron or enameled cast iron for all my kitchen and lunch box needs. You can visit my website at http://www.HealthyKitchenware.com to see some of the things I use/sell.
Interesting article on how “new”pyrex is made. get the vintage stuff the new pyrex isn’t reliable. http://www.synthstuff.com/mt/archives/individual/2006/03/problems_with_pyrex.html
“Corning no longer makes Pyrex cookware. They still retain the name but it is now made by World Kitchen under license. Applying that famous razor of William of Occam (paraphrased as: “Given a choice between two explanations, choose the simplest — the explanation which requires the fewest assumptions.”) I am willing to guess that World Kitchen is not making Pyrex cookware, that their cookware has little or no Boron Oxide and that it probably has not been annealed.”
You are SO my twin!! I scored a great load of vintage pyrex refrigerator dishes from Ebay and they are my favorite! And I’ve been coveting some Ikea glass containers for a while now. I’m going to use my birthday money to get some this weekend. I’d love to see more pics of your collection. I’ll show you mine! Anyway, great tips mama! Thanks!
I once snagged a set of vintage pyrex at a yard sale for .25! That was a happy day.
I also have some of the glass storage containers from IKEA. They have quite a nice selection. They’re also nice for storing cotton balls and stuff like that in the bathroom. Glass is so much more attractive too.
Carrie’s last blog post..Interview With League of Maternal Justice?s Kristen Chase
Quick question? Do you reuse glass jars too? I do. My favorites are the Marie Callender’s salad dressing jars and the Classico pasta sauce jars I’ve collected from my mom. Do you know 1) a good way to get the labels off or 2) the best way to re-label so I don’t forget the contents (masking tape looks so tacky)?
Tori,
My husband found that soaking the jars with labels in a solution of oxyclean ™ will remove the adhesive and paper extremely well. Common products sold for adhesive removal often use pentane as the active ingredient.
Vintage pyrex can be hard to find and it’s equally as hard to find pyrex containers without plastic lids. We did by some ceramic containers for stuff like sugar, but like so many things like that we have forgotten to ever take them out of the car, lol. Another good way to store things in glass, for free is to save old glass jars with metal lids, even the kind that have jelly or spaghetti sauce in them. They are good for storing things like nuts and grains which don’t need to be air tight. They can also be used for glasses. Cotton bags also work well for stuff like rice. Also, you can bring your own containers in for bulk foods at some places. Just write down the weight on the container or somewhere so they can take it off the total. A few customers where I work do that.
Tori, I do use glass jars. I soak them in hot water and scrub to get the paper off. I don’t label them but I imagine it would be pretty easy to buy some labels from an office store and print labels. I do that to label other stuff. Also there is a device called a P-Touch (I think that is the name) and it creates labels on the spot. I love those….used to have one in my office when I worked outisde the home.
Tori, the way I remove labels (after peeling as much of the paper off as I can) is by using oil. I discovered this by experimentation, and I’ve use the trick ever since. If you’ve ever used Goo Gone (which will absolutely do the trick), then you know it is quite oily…so I tried just plain oil–without the horrible fragrance or other chemical additives. Try dampening the area with canola or any oil. If it’s a small area, use a cotton ball. It might take a little work, but usually comes off very clean in the end.