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Food for Thought Friday: next on the chopping 🪓 block ... plastic wrap!
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Hello friend!
In today’s world that often pushes us towards "MORE! BETTER! FASTER!" I find myself increasingly soothed by choosing “less” instead. So today I have another item you can consider eliminating from your (kitchen) life: plastic wrap.
I think I’ve mentioned it in my writing before, but I have this thing with trash. Every time I put something in the trash, I feel a pang of guilt while I visualize ever growing landfills. I picture all the tiny pieces of plastic often found on beaches, in oceans, and all the other beautiful places they end up. I do everything I can not to put stuff in the trash, but to really not add to the trash, you have to not take in the plastic stuff in the first place… which is essentially impossible considering practically every item we buy (especially food) comes wrapped in plastic.
Today I'd like to suggest something very simple that you CAN do to reduce plastic trash which is: if you are currently buying plastic wrap to cover your food, you can simply stop buying it! This will save you money, and reduce trash! So today, I'm sharing 5 things to do instead of covering food with plastic wrap.
I should mention that personally - being the eco-freak that I am - I have not purchased plastic wrap in... I don’t know, 10-15 years? Maybe never ever? I do not miss it in my kitchen at all. The idea that you need to cover everything skin-tight is something the plastic-wrap industry has convinced people they need to do in order to sell more plastic wrap. While you're letting go of things, you can let go of that idea as well!
Here is how I store my food without using plastic wrap:
1) Reusable Silicone* Lids - I use these lids ALL THE TIME! Super convenient, and they really do make an air-tight seal! You can throw them in the dishwasher, too! Mine are the older, not-as-cute version of these Food52 lids, which are also heat safe up to 550 degrees. There are cheaper options on Amazon that say they are heat-safe up to 450.
You could also opt for the old-school, always-the-most-eco-option of not buying anything new and simply covering bowls with a plate!
*See note about silicone below in the PS.
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2) No need to cover it! Just stick it in the fridge! Either simply on the shelf or face down in a bowl to keep moisture in.
Got half an avocado? Half a lime? Half a lemon? a bowl of berries?
These little things do not need to be covered, and you probably want to eat it soon/the next day anyways! I simply place these either in a small, uncovered bowl, or just on the top shelf of my fridge where I’ll see them and remember to eat them right away.
Note that the refrigerator DOES dry foods out, so leaving things uncovered will dry them out a bit. This can be great for say, a salted, raw, whole chicken that you want to get extra crispy when roasted! Seriously, drastic improvement in chicken if you salt it and leave it uncovered in the fridge for 24 hours before roasting, see here. I digress!.
For my lemons and lime halves, I don't mind them a little dry, but for half-foods I DO NOT want to dry out (lately, half a watermelon; maybe half an apple or half an onion) I will place them face-down in a bowl to maintain a sort of moisture-seal with the surface of the bowl or container.
This rule of no-covering applies mostly to fruits/veg. You wouldn’t want to leave cooked/heavily flavorful foods uncovered as those flavors can seep into other things/stink up the fridge. I have noticed this lately in the freezer - my uncovered ice cubes have been taking on some weird flavors (that then end up in my iced coffee... eek).
3) Storage containers with lids are the obvious solution to plastic wrap...
But since transferring is annoying, I preemptively remove this step when possible by making sauces or dips directly in the container I’m going to store them in, like a jar or pyrex with a lid. That way I don’t have to transfer any leftovers. Oven-safe glass storage containers also help minimize the transitions. I happen to have a set from Ikea, and when I store chicken or roasted veggies in here, I simply warm it up in the oven in the same container the next day. There are tons of glass storage options out there, although I just discovered the Ikea ones now come with a bamboo-lid option which is pretty cool!
When I do have to transfer a large amount of leftovers into storage containers, one pro-tip is to portion things out into smaller storage containers versus one big one, according to how you'd like to eat the leftovers (say multiple lunch servings, etc). Thinking ahead can be proactive and help prevent me from bored-eating-out-of-a-big-container later!
4) The Damp-Towel Moisture Wrap
For things like discs of dough that need to keep their moisture, I’ve taken to wrapping them tightly in a damp flour-sack towel, and then placing that in a bowl with a silicone lid on top, in the bottom of the fridge (slightly less dry down there, I’ve found). This would work for something like a pie crust, cookie dough, or tight bread dough, although you may need to experiment a bit and remoisten the towel periodically depending how long you're storing it.
5) Parchment or a Plastic Bag
When I really need something most similar to plastic wrap, I'll occasionally use parchment paper and a rubber band, or I'll wrap a plastic bag (that I couldn't avoid getting from somewhere else) over a bowl and secure with a rubber band.
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Hopefully/maybe you're already doing all of the above! If not, I hope you'll at least consider letting go of buying plastic wrap. Seriously, it's a very simple change and will actually simplify your life in a positive way too: one less thing to buy, plus plastic wrap is annoying to cut and put on anyways! I think you'll find the above suggestions faster and easier!
I know it seems like these small things will never make a difference, but truly if we ALL (or a lot of us) made them a habit... it would. Personally, I also take some small comfort in knowing that even though most things are out of my control, there are some things that I can do. If I have to pick doing a small something versus doing nothing, I'll take the small something :).
That's all I've got for you today!
Happy Friday,
love,
Jess
PS. As I briefly researched plastic and recycling while writing email, I found myself in a well-known place of eco-research despair... as often happens, the closer I look into something, the worse it seems to be. (Did you know those recycling-looking symbols on the Amazon Prime Bubble Wrap Packages are TOTALLY BOGUS?!**) Sigh. Here are a few things I came across that you may want to check out as more incentive to reduce your plastic intake!
- **Recycling! Is it BS? Episode of How to Save a Planet Podcast (highly recommend, although I want even more detail)
- Break Free from Plastic Campaign led me to these helpful (but scary!!) one pagers about health risks of food packaging chemicals!! YIKES
- WOW! The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act of 2020 would "make certain producers of products fiscally responsible for collecting, managing, and recycling or composting the products after consumer use," among other things. OMG THAT WOULD BE SO AMAZING! If you're into calling your Congresspeople, we can urge them to push for this bill!
- *I found this information about silicone (which is often touted as a sustainable and food-safe material). Gotta say this info makes me nervous, and makes me not want to use silicone with hot items/cooking anymore! Since I generally use my silicone lids for cold leftovers and since they rarely touch the food, I think I'll keep using them. I may reduce my use of silicone spatulas, however. This also may be more incentive to splurge on the 550-degree heat safe, more expensive (also way cuter!) Food52 lids if you're thinking of making the switch!
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All photos are taken by me and recipes written by me, unless otherwise noted.
If you like this email, it would mean so much to me if you'd forward it along to your favorite food-loving friends. Wannabe subscribers can sign up here. Thanks for reading!
In case you missed out, here are a few past issues to check out:
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Hi, I'm Jess! I help health-conscious, busy people transform their cooking from chore to lifestyle through intuitive cooking, which I teach through online classes, free content, coaching and more. This is my newsletter, Food for Thought Fridays, where I share highly actionable tips and inspiration to help you cook more intuitively (which makes cooking feel easier and SO much more fun!). Once a month, I share a recipe that's really worth making, and I only share those with my email subscribers. Sometimes the text above may include affiliate links, meaning (at no additional cost to you) I get a commission if you click through and make a purchase. This helps me to continue to share free content, so I would love it if you buy through my link! Thank you for supporting Garlic Press Jess!
I currently work + live on land that is the unceded territory of the Ramaytush Ohlone. And I can't wait to eat at Cafe Ohlone! Check out this article about them.
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