Well, I did a little research and found a great website for food storage alternatives–even alternatives to wax paper! Whether this website is the place I will ultimately purchase from, it sure provided me with “food for thought” as to what would create less waste and provide non-toxic alternatives to plastic.

The company is Life Without Plastic and their website address is www.lifewithoutplastic.com. They have the following product categories: bags (which include organic cotton and hemp sandwich bags), child and baby products, food storage (which I’ll talk about further), tableware, water filtration and storage, toys and coming soon…stainless steel ice trays.

Their stated purpose is to offer products that are completely devoid of plastic. They state, “But in a society so dependent on plastic, it is a significant challenge to find certain products without any plastic components whatsoever. Therefore, some of our products do feature plastic parts, but these parts are made of high quality plastic and will have little or no contact with your food or beverage. Our objective is to work with suppliers to progressively develop new products that contain no plastic at all.”

They further state, “Our products come from suppliers we trust and with whom we are developing long-term relationships. We seek suppliers who do not employ children and show respect for their employees, the environment and the community in which they live.”

Their vision was created via four guiding principles: health, the environment, integrity and community. It’s well worth reading their vision and principles statement!

So, as for the food storage options: The alternative lunch box and food storage containers offered by Life Without Plastic include stainless steel and wood. Their stainless steel containers come in various shapes and sizes and include airtight container options.

Wood products include bento boxes. Their lacquerware wood products are made of wood covered with several layers of a natural lacquer called urushi, which comes from the urushi tree (Rhus vernicifera). This urushi technique is thousands of years old, and the oldest known urushi lacquerware is about 9000 years old (dating from the Jomon period in Japan). This ancient technique is completely natural and does not use any chemical additives or processes.

Please go to their website to learn more about this ancient process, plastics, and Life Without Plastic–I have definitely bookmarked this site! At the end of a review of the various types of plastic and some plastic tips, they conclude, “These days, plastic is so omnipresent it can be difficult to imagine life without plastic.  Yet, our ancestors managed just fine without it.  All it takes is a little imagination, determination and discipline.”

DID YOU KNOW…Nearly 90% of floating marine litter is plastic? Since the dawn of the plastic era it is estimated that 5% of all the world’s post-production plastic has entered the world’s oceans. That is just over 100 million tons of plastic! AND…Plastic production uses 8% of all the world’s oil production. At the current rate, the world produces 200 million tons of plastic a year. Less than 3.5% is recycled.

FOR TODAY…I will use my imagination, determination and discipline to find less wasteful and much safer ways to store and carry my family’s food. I will also continue to share what I learn with others because the more we each share our knowledge, the greater the potential for change!

I promised to address plastic. This is a huge subject area, so for today, I will look at it from the aspect of Zero Waste and food storage.

Beginning to store our leftovers in glass or ceramic requires changing a pattern of behavior. Instead of reaching for that plastic storage container with the perfectly fitting plastic lid or rather than rip off a piece of plastic wrap to cover that dish, I just have to reach for the dishes! By doing this at home, I’m already eliminating waste!

But this becomes more of a challenge when I’m packing a lunch for myself or my family or when I’m putting together a picnic or food for an outdoor eating event. It’s really not feasible to send glass in a lunch box or picnic basket. So, what can I do instead? For sandwiches or other small items that I would normally put in a plastic sandwich bag, I can take some clues from the past. How about using good old-fashioned, natural wax paper just like my mom used to use? And if I don’t want to hassle with folding the sandwich in waxed paper, I can purchase waxed paper sandwich bags.

Natural waxed paper can be composted and degrades quickly. I want to make sure and buy a natural rather than a petroleum based coating so we need to be careful about which brand we purchase. Bags made with a petroleum based coating, like plastic, are not biodegradable. Waxed paper and paper bags coated with paraffin are a better option. Natural Value, both paraffin coated and widely available at health food stores, is a good brand to look for.

By using natural waxed paper, I am not only reducing waste but I am also putting all that organic food that we consume in our home into non-toxic packaging for myself and my family–keeping my family further protected!

As for larger needs for outdoor eating, I can also do something that was done even longer ago…wrap our food in large cloth napkins. This can work well for whole fruit and baked goods–it’s even more special when the baked goods inside are homemade (less energy being used than if I buy something that was transported to my local grocery store and more than likely packaged in plastics). The cloth napkins can look very chic–I especially like the large, thick cotton styles in plaids or bold prints.

For items such as salads, I guess I have to resort to storage containers. This is going to take a bit more research so I’ll save this for tomorrow.

In the meantime…

DID YOU KNOW…the first plastic sandwich bags were introduced in 1957? Department stores started using plastic bags in the late 1970’s and supermarket chains introduced the bags in the early 1980’s. AND…Each year, Americans throw away about 100 billion polyethylene plastic bags (only 0.6 percent of plastic bags are recycled)!

FOR TODAY…I will add natural wax paper and wax paper sandwich bags to my grocery list and begin using them for our packed lunches. I will use up the plastic sandwich bags we have left in our house and as I dispose of them, I will tear off the zipper/sealer top and throw that in the garbage (sad, but true). I will add the rest of the bag to my recycling. When we next go on an outdoor picnic, I will store our fruit and baked goods in waxed paper or cloth napkins. Tomorrow, I’ll look at transportable storage containers…

I began yesterday as promised to challenge myself to a new “green” task…ZERO WASTE!

In our home, we do a great job of recycling–especially because it is supported in our community. We have bins that are picked up weekly, along with our garbage, to encourage us to recycle paper, plastic, cans, and glass. But this really isn’t doing enough. Linda Christopher of the GrassRoots Recycling Network states, “Recycling is important, but it takes place too far down the waste stream. By the time something can be recycled, we’ve already used up water and energy, created pollution, and caused deforestation. If we really want to make a change, the important decision points are not after we’ve brought a product into our homes–it’s ‘upstream, where the product is made…and even further out–where it was designed. We need to stop managing waste and start eliminating it.”

So this is what “ZERO WASTE” is all about. It doesn’t mean that we are expected to produce no waste! But it’s a way of going beyond recycling, formally acknowledging that waste isn’t inevitable–that it can be reduced by designing it out of the system in the first place!

So this week, I’m going to focus each day on a new way to change my household “systems” in an effort to have less waste. I’m also going to give you and me a new stat each day to ponder…

DID YOU KNOW…”As of 2005, nearly 70% of the U.S. municipal waste was dumped in landfills or burned in incinerators; only 30% was recycled?! A 70/30 ratio may not sound bad, but Americans create almost 2 tons of waste per person every year. That comes to over 400 million tons of municipal waste–two-thirds of which is thrown away.” 50simplethings.com/zerowaste

FOR TODAY (started yesterday)…I will avoid using plastic wrap, baggies, and aluminum foil as much as possible to wrap and store food items. Today, I will cover leftovers with a dinner or lunch plate on top of the bowl or plate of food. I will store my leftovers in glass/ceramic containers (more about plastic tomorrow…).