Alternatives to plastic wrapping

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Alternatives to plastic wrapping
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Bugs

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

Posted: Sun Nov 21, 04 11:50 am Post subject: Alternatives to plastic wrapping

OK, let's start you off with a confession:

My name is Bugs and I can't stop using plastic to wrap food in.

What do you wrap your food in - sandwiches, rising bread, open packets of cheese, stuff for the freezer?

I still use plastic food/freezer bags to freeze things like pasta sauce, chilli, soup, stew, curries, which when I make them I tend to make as much as I can and freeze so we have "ready meals" for after work.

I try to use these alternatives:

- greaseproof paper for sandwiches/cake etc for packed lunches (which can be burnt, reused or recylcled)
- damp (clean!) tea towels to cover proving dough etc..which I can dry and use as normal without washing if they don't get dough on them

I continue to wrap cheese in plastic to stop it drying out - though I have silicon paper for baking which says to use it for cheese..and it's reusable...would this be better? And probably better for the cheese, too? Of course I reuse the cheese bags for as long as they look safe.

The biggest difficulty is probably the freezing stuff, it seems such a waste when everything is so clean and used only once. I can't put it in plastic tubs because we use so much garlic, onion and tomatoes I'd wind up with 'orrible smelling tubs in the cupboards. Or is it not such a problem?
As I've said in a different thread one idea is to put them in jam jars.

I'm hoping to hear what others get up to and if you have any comments or suggestions for improvements I could fit in?

mrutty

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 1578

Posted: Sun Nov 21, 04 1:51 pm Post subject:
I use quite a lot of garlic, onions and leeks. If you check the pots in the dishwasher they don't tend to smell. Jar lids seem to be the worst for holding a smell

Sarah D

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 2584

Posted: Mon Nov 22, 04 3:11 pm Post subject:

There is a school of thought that suggests that wrapping cheese in cling flim/plastic wrap is not a good idea as something in the plastic reacts with the fatty substances in the cheese.
I use greaseproof as much as possible; I avoid foil because of the aluminium in it.
I do have cling film but use it only very occasionally.
I try to use reusable re-sealable bags if I need to for the freezer, washing out and line drying when emptied.

Cling film makes a good practical joke over the toilet, I seem to remember..............

Gervase

Joined: 17 Nov 2004
Posts: 8655

Posted: Mon Nov 22, 04 5:31 pm Post subject:
There's a plasticiser in some cling-wrap that can be leached out by fats, and it's said to be carcinogenic. But aside from that, it makes cheese horribly sweaty. Greaseproof's the stuff! Plastic bags are ideal of mushy stuff in the freezer, though.

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Mon Nov 22, 04 7:44 pm Post subject:

Lowlander wrote:

Cling film makes a good practical joke over the toilet, I seem to remember..............

Yuck!

I'm a bit of plastic bag fiend too. I try to use greaseproof for sandwiches and things, and I've started to save creme fraiche pots for cheese (but they always get water in the bottom - where from?!) As a household of two, we don't use much in the way of big (or small actually) plastic tubs, so I have to buy all my plastic containers of a decent size. The takeaway plastic ones that you get now are OK, but only enough for one usually. For liquids (like soup or sauces) you can use washed out milk cartons, but you have to remember to take them out to defrost, as you can't get at them until the are defrosted (unless you cut the tops off)

One idea I did have (but haven't tried yet) was to use old milk or juice cartins with the tops cut off to freeze things into blocks, and then to defrost them very slightly, get them out, and either wrap them in paper or just put them into carrier bags in the freezer. Not sure how they would fare with freezer burn or whether they would stick together in the bags. You would need to label them well, and I think it would work best with a chest freezer. I think milk cartons has more potential.

Sarah D

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 2584

Posted: Mon Nov 22, 04 11:11 pm Post subject:

I save the (quite rarely bought) plastic pint milk bottles that are square - they stack quite well in the freezer and are good for lots of things. You can also wash out and re-use the waxed cardboard ones, but beware that some of them have dioxins (I think that's it) from the bleaching of the card/paper from which they are made. They can be stapled shut, or special closings can be bought - Lakeland maybe.
There is a heat sealing gadget that can be gought as well, for use with new cartons for those who produce eg goats milk; Ascott possibly.

culpepper

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 638
Location: Kent

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 04 6:14 pm Post subject:

Really shops are to blame for plastic bag waste.When I was small in the sixties my mum used to have a shopping bag. I think the first plastic carrier I remember was one given away free with Womans realm.I was allowed to go shopping for dads budgie seed and was permitted to borrow it

My mum made it last till it fell apart.
Nowadays,they are so keen to load the things on you. We take shopping bags with us but they still manage to slip a few in wrapped around a bag of flour or whatever.They think you are wierd if you say you dont want them. When they package fruit ,they knot the bags which means usually they are useless when you manage to get the fruit out.I always tie my fruit bags in a bow so I can undo rather than rip them and they can be reused.
We keep all our breadbags for freezer use.When I buy beef mince,I seperate it out into 8 OZ portions and freeze in the bread bags.

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45674
Location: Essex

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 04 6:16 pm Post subject:
We re-use as many as possible plastic bags.

Sarah D

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 2584

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 04 6:55 pm Post subject:
We used to think our granny was odd whne she washed out poly bags and hung them on the line to dry so she could re-use them many times over. I find myself doing it now

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28237
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 04 6:59 pm Post subject:
We always find extra uses for them, as freezer bags etc. Can't say we go as far as washing them out and reusing them several times though. jema

Sarah D

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 2584

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 04 7:07 pm Post subject:
Never too late to start, though, is it?

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28237
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 04 7:32 pm Post subject:

Sarah D wrote:

Never too late to start, though, is it?

Not saying I should not make more attempts to reduce usage. But I am unsure of the importance compared to ther things?

For example:

10 carrier bags = 1 mile round trip car journey where I was too lazy to walk.

how does that equation sound?

jema

Sarah D

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 2584

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 04 7:46 pm Post subject:
All these things are important in their own little way, whether you compare them to other ways of reducing/recycling/reusing or not. Just another string to add to the bow, that's all, without much effort.

mrutty

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 1578

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 04 8:07 pm Post subject:

Sarah D wrote:

We used to think our granny was odd whne she washed out poly bags and hung them on the line to dry so she could re-use them many times over. I find myself doing it now

My gran does it, my mother does it and so do I

nettie

Joined: 02 Dec 2004
Posts: 5888
Location: Suffolk

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 04 8:58 pm Post subject:

I am the proud owner of a long life shopping bag, that i bought at the farm shop today

I felt very virtuous. Trouble is, when it's full, I can't lift it!

For freezing, I have found that Chinese take away plastic cartons and old ice cream tubs are great for stocks, berries, blanched veg, you name it.

As for jars, well i never have enough for my preserves, so using them for anything else is a no no!

I use greaseproof for everything else, never foil, as i seem to be able to taste it! Mushrooms get wrapped in kitchen roll, as the plastic punnets you sometimes get them in (when you do have to buy them) seem to make them grow a fungus all of their own.

Strangely I find that green leafy veg and salad seem to keep better wrapped in plastic.

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