Deliciously Organic - Carrie Korem, FNTP

Healthy, gluten free recipes and thyroid disease including Hashimoto's, Graves', Hypothyroidism and Hyperthyroidism

How to Get Rid of Plastic

Last Updated on April 14, 2026 by Annika Smith

Over the last few years I’ve slowly made the transition to glass, cloth and paper instead of plastic. I’m giving up plastic bags in place of cloth bags. They may cost a little more up front, but over time I’ll save money because I won’t buy box after box of plastic bags.

Every time I go Sur La Table I pick up a few of these jars. I store all of my flours, grains, nuts, dried fruit, and baking ingredients in them.

Ball jars are great to store just about anything. They are cheap and dishwasher safe.

I love these paper sandwich bags by If You Care.

How to Get Rid of Plastic

Lunchskins are another great way to stay away from plastic bags. My kids love them!

Start slow. Buy a couple jars or bags every few weeks. After several months you will have reduced your plastic use without much difficulty.

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Filed Under: Uncategorized | 60 Comments

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60 Comments

  1. Marcy

    It's been a slow ongoing process over here, too. Started with cloth shopping bags, then knit produce bags, reusing the plastic bags we already have (got a wooden ziploc dryer thingie that helps)... and I am starting to save glass jars from things like peanut butter and pickles and found some pyrex with lids at a yard sale. Now if only they still sold frozen vegetables in the paperboard boxes... or even more varieties in basic plastic instead of that thick crinkly steamer bag plastic. Or if I grew enough to provide all our own veggies, or maybe someday only buy fresh.
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  5. Dani @ flowersonmyplate.de

    Thank you Carrie, this is such an important topic! A few months ago we watched a movie about plastic and how dangerous it is and how actually no one really knows what exactly it is made of (!), very shocking! Not to mention the environmental effects it causes. One day after (and I am usually not that impulsive...) I started buying the same glasses like you have from Sur La Table for flours, sugar, beans etc. It is not even healthier and more environmental friendly but also my pantry has never been so well organised! And it looks pretty, too :) I also get used to freeze things in glass. As long as you only fill them 2/3 with liquid they won´t break. There are a lot of tips and help in the internet, in the beginning I was shocked how much plastic we have around us day by day and had no clue how to replace it, especially in the kitchen. Know I feel a lot more confident about it. Thanks a lot for bringing this up!
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  8. Laura

    I bought few heavy canvas grocery bags that were inexpensive and I always have them in the car. It has become a habit to always carry them to every store I go, and if I forget I carry everything to the car, I am sure a lot of cashiers think I am crazy. My kids are on the same page and will refuse a plastic bag faster than I. I see more and more people bring their own reusable bags, but it is still a very small percentage, especially to big chain grocery stores.
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  9. Jodi

    And for the "Re-Use" part of the equation... Remember our beloved Grandmas all used covered dishes with glass lids. She survived just fine without plastic wrap, baggies in every size, and ziploc containers, so surely we can too. A recent trip to the antique store reminded me how retro style can actually seem so modern and new again, but what really struck me is how these dishes are perfectly designed and perfectly sized for multi-purpose use and come complete with their very own glass lid. (prep,bake, store, serve, refrigerate, etc...) Brilliant. (Why did we ever get away from that?) They have certainly proven to be resilient, because there are still a whole lot of these darling dishes in nearly every consignment store, flea market, and garage sales all across the country just waiting for new use. Most of them only cost a couple of bucks. More things were made in the USA back then too, double-win. So, before you run out and buy brand new, maybe take a peek in a resale shop and choose to re-use instead. :-)
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  11. the urban baker

    Carrie, love this post. I have spent the last few years eliminating waste and trash as well. For almost 20 years I have only used cloth napkins, i don't put my veggies in plastic bags at the grocery store, use only reusable grocery bags, and my kids take a non trash lunch every day. However, I have one dilema that I cannot figure out. When I freeze or flash freeze protiens, fruit that is on it's last leg(like to freeze for smoothies) or leftover bread(I like to make bread crumbs with left over bread), I am forced to use a ziploc. Help...do you have a solution?
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  22. Rebecca

    I haven't read every post on this, so forgive me if someone's already offered this up. But I've quickly sewn (even with my very poor sewing skills, if you can call them that) produce bags using tulle. Very light and "airy" to let the produce breathe. The only problem has been that I don't always remember to bring them with when shopping. Oh, and to make things better, the tulle was bought at a garage sale for $2 and still on the cardboard bolt.
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  23. Shelly

    I am just starting on this journey, and am just now trying to at least get the plastic out of our foods. I am stumped at one place, though. I make my own baby food, freezing it in silicone trays, and then pop them out into plastic bags. We also put up fresh corn and peaches every year in plastic freezer bags. I am trying to figure out what I can do to get rid of the plastic bags, but still have something that would be freezer safe and protect from freezer-burn as well as the bags do. Do you have any suggestions?
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  24. kimberly

    I just ordered planet lunchboxes for 1/2 of my family. They are pricey, but stainless steel. The first thing I thought as I was packing stuff in the little containers was WOW, I won't have to use plastic baggies on any of this stuff anymore. So nice. I also recently started storing a lot of things in the glass jars. I love the food saver attachment that sucks out the air and seals the lid. If you already have a food saver, the attachement isn't very expensive. They make it wide mouth or narrow, but I just got wide and then started stocking up on various sizes of wide mouth jars. I love them. I store tons of things in them, and I do have to agree, I love the way they look. Very clean, and very uniform. Thanks for the post.
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  28. Jamie

    I'd also like to get suggestions for bulk food (smaller things like grains), and what do you use for trash bags? Also, I've been trying to come up with an idea for our newly adopted 14 year old mini dachshund... if you don't watch her, she'll do her business on the floor (no warning or asking to go out). Right now, we're using donated puppy pads (plastic backed...), but I'd like to get away from that. She will go in her crate also (and then needs a bath because she has no problems laying in it). We're pretty good about getting her out in time during the day, but at night, the pads are helpful.
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