Surely goodnesss and mercy shall follow you all the day’s of your life. I am so proud of you and the love you show for your world and other’s. You go girl!!!! Keep it up. It is so important to set an example for other’s. I need Help myself to do better and set as good an example.!!!!! Keep up the great articles Dianne

Absolutely wonderful ideas !!!!
I have the old fashion glass refrigerator dishes which you can get online with Martha Stewart/ Kmart. I look forward every week to your incites on making life better in ways we all can do.Thank you !!!

this is great, but SIGG just instituted a recall on 2008 and pre-08 water bottles, because they did in fact, contain BPA. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/simran-sethi/hot-water-how-sigg-lost-m_b_275651.html. I’d say stay away from SIGG and find a company that markets their products transparently.

Great idea to bring non-disposable to-go ware when eating out! I’ll definitely try to get myself in the habit of doing so from now on.

Just an fyi, JustBento.com linked to a letter from SIGG CEO regarding trace amounts of BPA in bottles manufactured before Aug08.

Sorry, the link to the JustBento/SIGG article is here: http://justbento.com/sigg-water-bottle-controversy-and-water-bottle-conundrum

these are great ideas! however, i wanted to mention something about the SIGG containers – SIGG has recently come under heavy fire for lying about the liners in their water bottles. they were not BPA free yet they mislead their customers to believe they were. before purchasing these boxes, please do some research! i am not sure that the boxes you linked to are stainless steel and the site does not list the materials used to make them…

I think it’s worth mentioning that the Sigg containers are made of aluminum not stainless steel.

gina and a-the sigg containers i suggested are now made in sigg’s bpa-free facility. additionally (and i could be wrong), i don’t believe the containers have any liner whatsoever, only a food-grade coating. the ones i own (i’ve got 4) have no visible liner.

in any event, the new eco-liner now used by sigg is completely bpa-free. you can read more about sigg and the liner debate here: http://www.mysigg.com/bulletin/

great idea! I will work to incorporate these ideas to reduce waste too. It looks like most people are aware so I wont restate the SIGG “conspiracy”, but I will need to find another Co. to purchase stainless steel containers from, as I feel uncomfortable supporting a company that was clearly purposely dishonest with wellmeaning consumers!

Wonderful advice – I feel the same way about reducing waste – you are just eons beyond me in your efforts. Thanks for inspiring me to take additional steps for improvement!

Thank you. Very nice post!
And, thanks Gina, for the update on Sigg bottles.

This is a fantastic post! Thanks for the great suggestions. :)

I’d like to give glass a shout-out, too! I was excited to get my To-Go Ware stainless steel pails only to realize that, while great for salads and such, they’re not so awesome for leftovers that require microwaving. I found some nice glass tupperware at Home Goods.

great post. thanks for reminding us, because it’s too easy to get complacent or think that being green is a fad. thank you thank you.

making a difference through small measures IS the way to go. everything from using cloth bags for shopping to buying locally can have such an impact.

however, i am actually surprised to read that restaurants, or the butcher for that matter, would be willing to put food in a customers own container. back in highschool i used to work in restaurants and delis and we’ve always been told to never except any packaging from our customers, for you would never know what has been carried in it before.

but then again, as kids we always used to get icecream for the whole family in our own containers. so maybe it does still work?!

this is really inspiring!

As another suggestion, i stitched up little tulle bags with some leftovers to carry small items (cherry tomatoes, strawberries, etc…) back from the grocery store and the farmers market. All of those little plastic produce bags, and then when you get home you have to either throw them out or find a place to store them until you can figure out what to do with them. It only takes a few minutes if you have a sewing machine and they weigh almost nothing so they don’t add cost to your items.

I love the idea of not using plastic for food storage. I buy so much produce and meat to make my own meals that I need a lot of storage for them in the fridge and to store left-overs for lunches. However, how can one reheat the leftovers in the microwave? I suppose I’d have to use glass. I hate to be so reliant on a microwave, but in a work-place, what else is there?
I’m tempted to get the Pyrex glass storage containers, but they have plastic lids. And my mother has them and they don’t seal well.
Any ideas?

I know this is good for the earth and a good thing to do, but man oh man I doubt I’m ever going to start toting my own to-go containers to restaurants. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Yes. Bringing a bag of tupperware to dinner in San Francisco: doubtful. Maybe I’ll try… you are inspiring.

Thanks for this article, it’s a good reminder for all of us. Lately I’ve been noticing at the check out line all the beautiful produce heaped up on the conveyer belt in plastic bags. So. Much. Plastic. Re-usable mesh or cheesecloth bags are the way to go with produce and bulk. There are a lot of sellers on Etsy with these if you don’t have time to make your own!

Definitely inspiring … I agree with KD that etsy is a good resource for cute cloth “nonplastic bags” for sandwiches and such.

Love love love this idea. I don’t know why I never thought of it before. We bring reusable bags, why not reusable takeout containers and things to put deli foods in? I want to make a few burlap sacks for produce to further cut down on the plastic of bundling a bunch of apples together.

Quick FYI: Sigg Bottles set up an exchange program if you want one with BPA-free liner
http://www.mysigg.com/bulletin/

Ashley, great post, as always.

Something that I would love to learn more about is composting. Just throwing that idea out there.

I buy our produce at a market and at a farm, where I also buy our meat, dairy and milk. I keep a carrier for the glass bottles I use for the milk, and keep bags to carry the produce. I get the produce from the market in paper, but with the farm it’s still an uphill battle.

The biggest challenge I have right now though is storage space and weight. What to do?? I guess I need to invest in mesh bags also! and then…find a solution for the volume the glass takes up.

I’ve been bringing my own leftover containers to restaurants for years. I keep them in the car so I will always have them handy. In fact, I’m now in the habit of putting my leftovers in the container when the food first comes to the table, not only saving styrofoam but keeping slender.
My big dilemma is with takeout food. We do a lot of takeout and I hate all that waste. I have never asked if they would put the food in my container and I like the food to be ready when I get there. But I think I am going to give it a try. I use the Sigg lunchboxes too, have them in two different sizes.

I wanted to add to the list of alternative to the SIGG bottles. Klean Kanteen is wonderful and you can place it in your dishwasher, unlike SIGG.

http://www.kleankanteen.com/

Great tips. They’ll reduce the multiple pangs of guilt I feel every time another plastic package hits the trashcan. Imagine what better legislation on packaging and plastic bags would do for my conscience!

Thanks for another great post, Ashley. Keep ‘em coming!

my grocery store won’t let me do this (sanitation rules) :(

correction: the sigg containers are made of aluminum, not stainless steel. i was eye-balling my other actual stainless-steel containers when writing the column! thanks to those of you who pointed that out!

also, i, too, am an avid user of glass storage containers. i hesitated mentioning their use in this post, however, as they aren’t as durable and more susceptible to breakage than plastic, metal, or aluminum containers if you’re schlepping them all over town.

christina-i use a number of glass containers with glass lids. several i found at antique stores. others are made by anchor hocking. i found those at my local natural food store.

I know exactly what you mean. I try to keep my waste to a bare minimum as well. I’m happy when, on trash collection day, I put just a small, half-filled trash bag out on the curb. And when I buy a packaged product, I stick as much as possible to what is recyclable or in some cases bio-degradable. My biggest annoyance, really, is that body care products and detergents all come in plastic bottles which do not get recycled in my country. But my greatest wish would be that I could have them refilled. Maybe one day…

This really does work wonderfully. One of my favorite things is to take a couple Sigg boxes to the Chinese takeout place next to the natural food market. We keep them in the car to have on hand. I place my order, leave them the boxes, do my shopping, and it is all good to go by the time I am done.

It’s fantastic because along with less waste filling the landfills to worry about, there is less garbage and/or recycling to take up space in the kitchen.

Also, as opposed to those leaky chinese takeout containers that always seem to make a mess of everything, bringing your own containers means there is no leaky mess to worry about.

I’ve always noticed how cool it looks to see people filling the different compartments of their tiffins at Indian buffets, but I haven’t tried that yet. It’s on my list :^)

Great post, Ashley.

I too *love* my Klean Kanteen bottle, now they just need to do food containers.

I was just reading something about food establishments not being allowed to use a customer provided container… if someplace won’t do it, encourage them to at least get compostable containers. Eventually this needs to be a minimum! I hope.

I work at a Very Large Company and they have switched to all compostable cups and paper plates and plasticware in the cafeterias and amazingly also won’t be selling any more bottled water in the cafeterias. YAY.

If you do go to a place which will use your containers, I really like my glass Frigoverre containers, but they do have plastic lids (and seal well). Another option which has a glass lid are the larger canning jars with the flip top lids (and the orange rubber rings). Another option beyond that are the Weck jars which are very pretty and have glass lids and the orange ring but with little clips to hold the lid on (metal).

If you want to microwave you can always take the food out of the metal container and put it on a plate (stick one in your desk at work, it will also feel decadent eating on a real plate).

This inspires me to pay more attention to my waste.

Is there a recipe for the purple cabbage and carrot salad in the first pic? It looks delicious.

Wouldn’t it be just as easy to look to a pre-1960′s world for food storage? canning jars, empty mayo jars and pyrex, gotta love ‘em! Not so sure about the wax paper tho…

That’s a great idea… will we all be that organised though? I am off to the
supermarche must remember to take my cloth bag.

far out brussel sprout-here’s the recipe for the slaw, supplied by my husband, whose culinary skills are unrivaled, as far as i’m concerned! we’re particularly fond of adding some to fish tacos. yum!

1 Small shredded red cabbage
1 Small carrot, finely julienned
About an ounce of seasoned rice wine vinegar (or to taste)
About 3 tablespoons of olive oil
Zest from half of a lemon and a squeeze of lemon juice
A teaspoon of cucumber seeds
A couple pinches of salt and some freshly ground pepper
Toss with some fresh marjoram leaves if desired

This is really great! Here are my thoughts and suggestions, coming from a deli worker:

Yes (Mike and Bre…), it is against the health code (at least in Oregon) to handle a customer’s personal container. However, there are plenty of ways around this! For sloppy foods like potato and pasta salads, ask if they can measure your serving onto a plate. You take the plate, dump the food into your container, hand the plate back, plate gets washed, off you go! No rules broken! For bigger foods like chicken pieces, sliced turkey meat or pastries, have the server weigh the food on the little sheet of wax-paper, then literally hand it over. You drop the food into your awaiting container! Presto!

My friend recently did a “no-plastic/no-waste” challenge and together we came up with some clever ways around all the packaging that comes with food (while still following health code regulations). Be creative, have fun, and help protect the environment!

As a waste-conscious deli worker, I am always glad to work with customers to provide solutions that allow them to conserve :)

I have to add to the Sigg comments; as it seems people are judging/over reacting without actually informing themselves. The recall was not an actual
“recall”. It was volunteered information on the ORIGINAL liners; which I do believe date back to 2006. They were never labeled as BPA free as that was not the thing/craze back then; therefore they never lied or misinformed. Through out Sigg’s testing there has been no BPA leaks. Again they volunteered this information on something that they never advertised. If you look at any design out on the market they are all Sigg knockoffs; which seems to say they have a great design. My family has opted to keep our 4 Sigg bottles that date back from 2006. For all those still in disbelief think how many times you have washed in the dishwasher then stored leftovers then I dunno microwaved in an empty yogurt container and now you are on the BPA wagon? Also how is putting this kind of drinking bottle in the dishwasher actually cleaning the inside of it ?

Christina,
I sometimes have to use the microwave at work for lunch too. I brought a ceramic plate and bowl to keep at my desk so that at lunchtime, I can move my food from the stainless steel container onto the bowl/plate and then microwave. It’s harder if you don’t have a sink at work, but if you do, I’ve found this to work well.

I’m so glad you wrote this post! Lately, I’ve been telling sales people to keep their plastic bags/tissue paper and I’ve only had 1 store refuse: Century 21 (in Paramus). It was so strange–I guess it’s to help curb shoplifting (they staple the bag shut w/ the receipt on the outside), but I really felt it was unnecessary.

I always feel a bit guilty about ordering take-out–on the one hand, it saves money, but I end up with plastic containers. I will definitely look up the SIGG boxes for lunches and leftovers.

Thanks!!!

Thanks so much for posting more stylish ways people can use to avoid more garbage in this world. Every little bit helps and I don’t think some people think about how easy it can really be.

I am going to start stashing a few reusable containers with my stash of reusable grocery containers. That’s a great idea!

Thanks!

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

Whew! That was a lot of back-and-forth about sigg. I just wanted to thank you for the great articles about ways to reduce waste. I have two little boys and I go through a lot of plastic ziploc bags! I bought a set of pyrex glass containers and will try to utilize them before reaching for a plastic baggie.

On a side note, it would be really cool to hear about eco-friendly options for people with kids and babies!

Thanks!
-Anna

Brava!! Thanks for this great post…I always store my leftovers in glass or ceramic containers…I love the Sigg metal containers…must get some. Cheers!!!

One more comment on bringing your own container for leftovers at restaurants, I simply fill my container before the staff claims my plate, gets some interesting looks, but no complaints so far! Would love to see restaurants discount meal for those who do it, similiar to grocery stores giving one for bringing your own bag.

I’ve found the most inconspicuous way to take out leftovers is to fold a few Ziploc-style freezer bags (quart size)in my purse . . .or some folded foil. Sure, it won’t work with stew or soup, but just about everything else . . .and you can carry it in a small purse. Then, once you’ve wrapped the leftover food, either proudly carry it out or use a mesh bag!

what a great idea! thank you for sharing- i never thought about taking my reusable containers to restaurants & the grocery. see, this is how the world becomes a better place! good people sharing good tips… this makes me happy! : )

I love the “tiffins” They remind me of the old fashioned miner’s lunch boxes used back in the day.

Love the Sigg metal containers. Thanks for the introduction– buying some now!

Great suggestions and ideas I had not thought of… we often bemoan the containers restaurants give you for leftovers and this idea had never occurred to me!

I, too, am a waste reducer. I never thought of bringing containers to the butcher of fishmonger. I think that this will be my new operating mode.

Btw, do metal containers interact with food, making it taste different?

interstingly- growing in Bombay ‘tiffin boxes’ were very much part of the culture… ever heard of the ‘dabbawala’ lunch distribution? here’s a short clip about this fascinating concepthttp://videos.howstuffworks.com/discovery/32543-discovery-atlas-india-and-tiffin-boxes-video.htm

The worst part about the Sigg controversy is not even that they had BPA, it’s that they lied about it.

http://www.ecorazzi.com/2009/09/08/ouch-patagonia-terminates-relationship-with-sigg-over-bpa-reveal/
http://www.triplepundit.com/2009/09/surprise-sigg-bottles-did-contain-bpa-after-all/
http://www.zrecommends.com/detail/siggs-bpa-confession-you-arent-going-to-like-it-any-more-than-we-do/

I won’t be buying anything from Sigg in the future, regardless of what type of liner it does or doesn’t have…

Lydia-I’ve been using metal containers for years and have yet to detect any adverse or “off” flavor that’s been imparted to my food. The stainless steel containers wouldn’t do anything and the aluminum containers have a food-grade coating on them to prevent interactions between the food and the receptacle.

Hmm, a little surprised that no one’s mentioned this. If you’re concerned or aware about the environment, you don’t think about not using butcher paper or plastic bags for your meat purchases, because you’ve cut all meat from your diet. Meat is awful for the environment. I encourage you all to research the topic. Patting anyone on the back for figuring out how to carry meat purchases home in a reusable container is applauding the rearrangement of deck chairs on the Titanic.

Lisa, I’m not the biggest carnivore in the world but – I know there are responsible farms for meat. As with anything if one can eat local and organic it makes a difference.

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