5 Eco-Friendly Food Storage Containers & Cookware

We’ve heard from many people saying that we should find some eco-friendly food storage containers and should avoid the plastic ones. Why people are saying that? You’ll get the answer when you know your plastics.

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Know your plastics:

The plastic containers with the number 1 are meant for single use only. So don’t even try to use disposable water or soda bottles more than once. Just recycle them.

The plastic containers with the numbers 3 and 7 are made from polyvinyl chloride and polycarbonate respectively. The former discharges a chemical called Bisphenol A(BPA) and the latter releases phthalates or PVC. These should be avoided completely as they affect our hormone levels by entering our bloodstreams.
You should never heat your food in the oven using a plastic container.
Go for the wax paper instead of the plastic wraps to cover your food.

Don’t store the food and the water in the plastics while they are still hot.
The canned food may contain BPA so stop buying them. Instead, go for the fresh fruits and vegetables from the farmer’s market.

Reasons to avoid plastics for cooking and storing your food:

A very tiny amount of plastic gets into our food by migrating from the plastic containers. This migration of plastic increases when the temperature of the food is high or when the food is salty, fatty and acidic.

Even though there are no studies to say whether the usage of plastics are safe or not, it is wise to prevent us from the worst scenario which may or may not happen in the future.
Moreover, plastics not only affect our health but also our environment by producing more and more plastics.

Eco-friendly food storage containers:

You cannot throw your plastics all at once and go for eco-friendly kitchenware. They are neither economic nor Eco-friendly. But if you would love to go for plastic alternatives right way for your food storage and cooking, make sure to recycle all your plastics. That’s really important.

If you are in a position where you’ve just bought a lot of plastic containers, you can opt for the new eco-friendly cookware when the old plastics can no longer be used or try to reuse those plastics for other purposes.

Go for the following eco-friendly food storage containers & cookware:

Glass

Stainless steel

For example, for storing your grains you can go for steel containers or glass jars with airtight lids. Let’s discuss these eco-friendly food storage containers in detail.

1. Glass:

Glass has a non-porous surface which prevents it from absorbing the food as well as the germs to it.

You’ll notice that the flavour of your food elevates to the next level for sure.
The glass can be recycled with no toxic liberations to the environment. And the recycling only takes 60% of energy when compared to the manufacturing of new glass.
The food stored in the glass will be fresh and healthy.

You can even put them (BPA free) in the dishwashers. Unlike plastics, when exposed to heat they won’t emit any chemicals. Make sure to store the food when it is at the room temperature as the glass tends to crack at high temperatures. But it can withstand the temperature in the dishwasher.
It’s a one-time investment even though it costs more than the plastics which we tend to buy often.
Last but not least, they are environmentally friendly.

What to look for when you buy glass containers?

Glass containers with the airtight lids made of metal/steel/ rubber. Something like this and you can easily find them on amazon.
Prefer the rectangle or square-shaped ones to stake more in your refrigerator.
Go for oven-proof and freezer-safe tempered glass.

2. Cast-iron utensils:

Are you a lover of non-stick items? Then go for the cast-iron ones as they are free of chemicals and acts as a natural non-stick. Usually the non-stick is coated with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) which is also known as Teflon. So when the coatings of the non-stick start tearing off it releases the toxic chemicals. But this is not the case for cast-iron items.

They come for the long run even generations after generations. But it should be maintained well as they tend to rust. Regular seasoning and oiling will be more than enough to prevent them from rusting. They are easy to clean and maintain.
They can be used in the stoves as well as in the ovens.

People who are suffering from the iron deficiencies, go for it as cooking in the iron utensils increases the iron content in your body by 20 times.
They are less expensive than that of the containers which are made of steel. You can find the iron cookware in amazon at a reasonable price.

3. Clay pots:

Benefits of cooking and storing your food in the clay pots:

This is one of the best eco-friendly food storage containers as the clay or Earthen pots have a wide range of health benefits.
They preserve the flavour and heat of the food so there is no need to preheat your food.

Earthen pots are environmentally friendly and when it is broken you can decompose it easily as they are made from soil.

Cooking in the earthen pots is a slow process so it holds all the nutrients in your food. It also adds minerals like calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, sulphur and other vitamins to the food which are essential for our body. And the clay pots are easily available at amazon at a lower price.

The food will be digested properly when they are made in the clay pots. This is because the pots are basically alkaline so it neutralizes the acid which is present in the food.

There is no wonder why our ancestors lived a healthy and long life.

Things to keep in mind when you go for earthen or clay pots:

Go for unglazed (contains lead and mercury) pots as they are harmful to health.
Don’t use dishwashing soap or liquid to wash them. Just clean them with hot water. You can even use the baking soda or rock salt to scrub it.

Cook in the medium or low flame because they tend to break at high flame.

4. Ceramic cookware:

Advantages of using ceramics in your kitchen:

Ceramic cookware is made only from the water, inorganic materials and minerals which are from our Earth’s crust. Hence they are non-reactive and non-toxic in nature.
They can withstand high temperatures i.e., even 2700 degrees where the steel melts at 2200 degrees.

Using them at oven and fridge doesn’t crack the ceramic items easily.
We can store as well as serve the food in the ceramics as they look decorative when served at the table.
Ceramic cookware is easy to clean.

Similar to the clay pots, it preserves the flavour and heat of the food.

Before buying the ceramic cookware, check the following:

Go for the high-quality ceramic cookware which comes for a long time. To check its current price at amazon, click here.
You should not buy the ones which are glazed.

5. Fifth Plastic alternative – Stainless steel:

Stainless steel are durable and weightless. Hence, the stainless steel boxes can be carried out for your food take-outs and for packing your lunch.

Easy to clean and maintain.

It causes no harm when contacted to acidic food.

They are recyclable.
Stainless steel doesn’t cause any flavour changes in your food.
Go for stainless steel cutleries rather than going for plastic. Check this out at Amazon, these steel cutleries come with a stand.

These are the 5 eco-friendly food storage containers & cookware you can use today. What kind of eco-friendly food storage containers do you use at your kitchen?

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