About 2 years ago, I chose to stop using plastics as food containers in our home. I recycled every last one of them and went to glass. The risks and information regarding plastics is everywhere on the internet, so do your own research and make your own descisions on the topic.
Using glass jars is an easy transition. You can buy a dozen at the grocery in various sizes, but if you plan to transition out of plastic over time, simply save the glass jars and bottles that you do use from products that you buy. Instead of recycling a glass salad dressing bottle, clean it and reuse it, making your own homemade salad dressings instead.
In fact, I know purchase good and products with the reuse of their vessel in mind. I try my best to buy products that are packaged in recycled/recyclable/reusable containers or packaging.
The glass jars go right into the freezer (be mindful of freezing liquids however). With the lids removed, they also go right to the microwave. We do not own a microwave at home, but I pack my lunches into 8oz. glass jars and then reheat them at work in the microwave there. Then, they go right into the dishwasher where they are cleaned and sanitized for the next use.
But where to store them all? My counters and cupboards were over run, so my solution was to utilize a space I had under an island in my kitchen and store them in baskets. It works great.
I use the glass jars for everything; I store dried fruits, granola, nuts, grains. In the fridge I store leftovers, homemade pickles, I reuse spaghetti sauce jars and jar my own sauce. In the freezer, I pack leftover dinner portions for my lunch the next day, like rice, or fish and vegetables, even grapes and sliced apples. Baby-food jars are fantastic for transporting salad dressing to work to go on my salad, or small portions.
I will post my spaghetti sauce recipes and salad dressing recipes this weekend, stay tuned!
