11 picks · vetted plastic-free
The best plastic-free food storage
Glass, stainless and cloth for everything you keep, pack and freeze, so leftovers stop marinating in plastic.
Food storage is where plastic gets the longest contact time with what you eat. Leftovers sit in it overnight, acidic sauces stain it, and reheating in it is the single worst thing you can do: heat drives plastic particles and additives directly into food. A 2025 CNN investigation found packaging sheds microplastics into food from the moment it is unwrapped.
Glass and stainless steel fix the whole category at once. They go from fridge to oven or lunch bag without leaching, they do not stain or hold smells, and they outlast a drawer of warped lids by decades.
For the counter, the freezer and the produce drawer
Beeswax wraps replace cling film for bowls, cheese and bread. Platinum-silicone bags handle the freezer and sous-vide. Cotton mesh bags mean produce comes home without a plastic bag at all.
Common questions
- Is it safe to reheat food in plastic containers?
- Heating is the highest-shedding thing you can do with plastic, and even microwave-safe labels only mean the container will not melt, not that it will not shed. Glass containers remove the question: reheat in the same dish you stored in.
- Are silicone bags actually plastic-free?
- Silicone is a silicon-oxygen polymer rather than a petroleum plastic, and food-grade platinum silicone is far more heat-stable than polyethylene bags. We treat it as the best available option for the freezer and marinades, where rigid glass is awkward.
- What should I replace first?
- Whatever you reheat in. If your leftovers go from fridge to microwave, move those meals into glass first, then replace cling film with wraps, then swap the produce and freezer bags.
- Do mason jars work in the freezer?
- Yes, with two rules: use wide-mouth jars with straight sides, and leave headspace for the food to expand. They handle soups, sauces, and stock without a plastic bag in sight.
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