When it comes to meat the answer truly is easy.. use old fashioned brown waxed butcher paper..
The question? Avoiding single use plastic..
This includes the awesome and outstanding shrink rap bags as well as the ones that remove the air and seal..
Totally will own up the fact that both of these work great.. but they are so wasteful and they produce throw away plastic for every single item preserved with them.
If they get to the point that they can figure out a way to use these that are not just one time use plastic and instead replace with something that can do the job and be composted and I will come back around to them.
Till that happens, I am heading over to re-useable plastic freezer tubs and I will also try some freezer grade Silone bags as well. These are my trial ones.. I have a issue with how small most of these are.. but I will find a way to use the small ones as well as the bigger ones.
There are issue with it of course, its still plastic, it is will take forever to degrade but it has a good history of lasting a long time.. but you can not stack jars in the freezer in the same way and the cost of running freezers is not cheap! Balance in all things.
It means that I will need to do my best to stay on top of my canning and drying at a faster clip for the coming season.. that sounds easy but its not.. The very reason I use the garden freezer is to give me that flex in regards to saving up enough in the freezer until everything has ripened if it happens over a couple weeks or till I have time to do so.
While I do love some things that are dried for certain things, its not the same as frozen fresh and then enjoyed in different ways..
The biggest change will be in saving tomato’s, I will have to process them in smaller batches or find larger freezer tote that I can cut and just add the fresh on top till its full and then go for it..
Are you trying to reduce your single use plastic and if so what is you plan for replacing Freezer bags? I am certainly open to idea’s but please don’t tell me to use milk bags etc, as I do not buy “store” things to recycle them in this way.
Just another Day on the Farm 
Even though milk bags don’t work for you, some of your readers may still be buying milk and have milk bags. Those (the ones that go in your milk pitcher) can be washed out and used in conjunction with a vac sealer as freezer bags (but without the vac, it doesn’t work on the milk bags). And you can use them again and again (though they get shorter) At least one is not buying new single use plastic and they stack well in the freezer.
Fair point Amanda, It is better to reuse something if you are bringing them in the house and if they can be reused a number of times all the better for it. Thank you for showing the other side to that comment I often get to use the milk bags.
And lol here I am to say it again or at least second Amanda’s thoughts; ) The plastic from the milk bags is also a type that’s truly recyclable: )
I know you love them deb lol.. its just that I do not have them 🙂
Yes, lucky you for not needing to buy “bagged” milk; )
I’ve used the ETEE (beeswax covered cloth) bowl covers and bags, but I can’t seem to get past the wax mixture on the cloth. I don’t want it touching my food. Also, they’re finicky to wash. So, I’ve essentially abandoned them.
I have not tried them, I use glass bowl with plates over them or jars for everything in the fridge, glass or steel to travel with so I just have not felt the need to try the waxed cloth to date.. but thanks for the feedback
Plastic makes me rage- but I’ve yet to figure out a better way to store chickens in the freezer, or vegetables. I’ve tried canning my carrots – but the texture is miserable. One of my biggest issues is the lack of choice when I do purchase things from the store – like I make my own mustard (which goes in a glass jar), but hubby likes the regular popular stuff – which only comes in plastic. Yes we recycle, but we also know a lot of recycling plastics end up in the landfill as there is no market for them.
Tomatoes- I toss them whole into those reusable cloth grocery bags until I get to canning them. Butter I make goes into half pint jars – they stack well. Dilemma for sure.
I know, just because its put in the blue box does not mean that it is reused, the market for plastics is in the dumps and then some.. pun insteaded.. it is ending up in the landfills. Its very hard to figure out how to work around it, true.. canned chicken is lovely but somethings I want to do different meals an that requires chicken that was frozen not canned to make happen. agree on the veggie and fruits for sure.. they do have color and texture change and at times I do not want the sugar in the fruits to hold them.. they are sweet enough on their own etc.
I will give the washable cloth bags a try for the tomato’s, great tip on them. yes the small jars can be stacked pretty safely but as you said, its small amounts going into those jars.
I will be watching this with interest. Add me to the list of people who hate using plastic but who hasn’t found anything that works as well in the freezer.
I did though just have a thought that I might try out. I wonder it it would be possible to origami some kind of paper bag out of waxed butcher’s paper and use that? Hmmm, it might be time to experiment…
val b gave the idea of reuseable cloth bags and I want to try lining them with the brown butcher paper so you try your way and I will try mine and we can compare..
Good idea!
We are trying hard to reduce our plastic use.
We are still using from our toiletries stash in the bathroom, but once things are starting to be used up, I am going to try a shampoo bar to see how that goes! I have switched from liquid soap to bar soap for handwashing.
We say no to straws and disposable cutlery. I bring my own reusable mug to events and to work, and bring my reusable bottle with me. I put my lunch in a lunch box; some things I have wrapped in a clean glass towel and brought with me.
I try to reuse bags that have had food in them, and if it exists to not buy things in plastic packaging. So may for instance I now buy in a glass jar rather than a squeezy one.
In the fridge and freezer I reuse containers from products I have bought before, and bags from products bought before. If I need to separate things, I put some baking paper between things.
all wonderful ways to cut down the plastic use.. one of my weaknesses is different kinds of fancy salad dressings and they of course come in plastic bottles.. I must make most of my own homemade dressings this year..
Lol, funny you should mention salad dressings… Way back (in the 80’s?) when I noticed that they were starting to go to plastic bottles instead of glass, I saved a bunch of dressing bottles – and am still using them when I’ve made a dressing /marinade… : )
that’s a great idea good for you deb.. I am trying to figure out a few different things I want to change up..