| There are many good reasons to use less plastic | | | | Food Storage |
| in your life. It comes from petroleum, a limited | | | | You don't need to store your food in plastic |
| resource. Plastic itself is not good for the | | | | containers either. Before plastic got so popular, |
| environment, and does not degrade well. Some | | | | glass containers were used. You can still buy them |
| types have BPA, which is a potential endocrine | | | | new or find them at thrift stores, garage sales |
| disruptor. | | | | and so forth. |
| Yet it makes many appearances in most kitchens. | | | | The main risk with glass is of course that it will be |
| How do you avoid it? | | | | dropped and broken. You do need to be a little |
| At the Grocery Store | | | | careful. But it's not at bad as you may think. Most |
| When you're buying food at the grocery store | | | | glass storage containers are made with fairly |
| you're likely to see quite a bit of plastic being | | | | thick, good quality glass. They're not made to |
| used. Wouldn't you like to avoid it? | | | | break all that easily. |
| In the meat department, rather than buying | | | | If you're preparing snacks or meals for on the go, |
| prepackaged meats you can go to the butcher | | | | have reusable supplies ready. A good quality lunch |
| counter and get the amount you want wrapped in | | | | bag, small reusable cloth bags, drink bottles and |
| butcher paper in many stores. Some will still use | | | | stainless steel containers can all help you to avoid |
| plastic bags to help prevent dripping with certain | | | | plastic use when you're taking food with you. |
| meats. | | | | Heating Food in the Microwave |
| When selecting fresh produce, your best bet is to | | | | It's just a habit for many people to use plastic in |
| bring your own bags. You can buy inexpensive | | | | the microwave. Plastic doesn't get so darn hot as |
| reusable bags made from lightweight materials | | | | glass or other containers in the microwave. |
| very easily. Some even have their tare weight on | | | | The trouble is that heating plastic leads to leeching |
| a tag so the clerk can subtract that from your | | | | of BPA and such if present. |
| total. | | | | Once again, think about your glass containers. |
| Milk and juice often come in plastic bottles, but | | | | Check to be sure they're microwave safe first, |
| you have options. You can often find them in | | | | and use a hot pad to take your food out of the |
| paper cartons, and sometimes even in glass | | | | microwave. |
| bottles. | | | | You don't need to cover food with plastic wrap to |
| I'm not even going to get into bottled water here. | | | | prevent splatters either. An appropriately sized |
| There's rarely a good reason to buy bottled | | | | plate on top will do the job quite nicely. You could |
| water from the grocery store. Fill up a reusable | | | | also use a lid from a plastic container if you like, |
| bottle at home, using a filter if you really feel the | | | | so long as it's not touching the food. |
| need. | | | | |