Plastic-Free Food Storage

vintage pyrex bowls

Glass Food Containers

Glass is a great alternative to plastic. Not only are glass containers durable and more eco-friendly, you can often amass quite a collection of glass storage containers for free! Next time you finish a jar of jam, pasta sauce, peanut butter, or pickles, stick the jar and the lid in the dishwasher for an instant, free food storage container!

If you don’t tend to buy food in glass jars, don’t despair! Shops like Amazon and The Container store have great selections of glass storage containers. You can also look out for vintage Pyrex with glass lids, like in the photo above.

The other great thing about glass storage containers? You can serve the food in the same bowl that you’re going to use for storing leftovers. You use fewer dishes, which means less to wash, so you conserve water, too!

Metal Food Containers

Metal food containers are a bit harder to come by, but they’re a great alternative to plastic as well. The great thing about metal containers is that they’re a bit lighter, so if weight is an issue it’s worth the extra hunting to find metal containers that work for you.

Life Without Plastic has some great metal container options, including this airtight metal container that looks like a handy size and shape.

>>Next: Pack a Plastic Free Lunch

Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by gesika22

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Molly S.

5:59PM PDT on Apr 29, 2012

Thanks. I have completely switched to glass.

send a green star

Angela N.

11:48AM PDT on Apr 16, 2012

thanks :)

Gina C.

11:12AM PDT on Apr 16, 2012

thanks for links for alternatives

11:04AM PDT on Apr 16, 2012

the only negative is that pyrex, corning and metal let the air in so food goes bad quickly, unless you use plastic lids. Just make sure to recycle them!. My Mom used corning growing up to cook and store leftovers, but the food always got hard around the edges..

the snack wraps seem like a good idea, but again, air gets in so how long can you keep things fresh?

I dont have a problem with using plastic containers as long as you recycle them after..
my problem is all the plastic used for individual snacks...they are dirty, so will they be accepted to be recycled?

Cynthia B.

10:26AM PDT on Apr 16, 2012

i try to use glass mostly, sometimes it's tough to carry to work and people steal them

federico b.

9:48AM PDT on Apr 16, 2012

Grazie.

Joyce D.

9:08AM PDT on Apr 16, 2012

I have worked for Tupperware Philippines for 12-1/2 years & and while being a member of the Product Management team, we make sure that Tupperware that are food-related : eating, drinking, storing, and cooking is of food-grade and non-toxic, safe quality. Even more so for the TupperToys, which are 100% safe for kids. In the production of Tupperware products, we do not re-use plastic chips either. What is used are virgin, food-grade plastic pellets. May i suggest the writer of this article should make a distinction of the kinds of plastic food is being stored in. A lot are in the store shelves.. be wary of those cheap ones particularly those that are made in China.

Teresa W.

5:16AM PDT on Apr 16, 2012

interesting, but not always possible

Amber B.

7:49PM PDT on Apr 13, 2012

awesome!!