Plastic-Free Kitchen Week has ended on the Strategist. To see all our stories from the series, head to ourPlastic-Free Kitchen Week hub.
We’ve come to the end of theStrategist’s Plastic-Free Kitchen Week. Trying to use less plastic in your cooking (and other parts of your daily life) is a topic that spurs anxiety and feels overwhelming to tackle — and our readers seemed really invested in it. You guys are in the weeds ofsiliconeversus glass versus biodegradable biopolymers right along with us. Here are some thoughts, tips, and swaps that Strategist readers shared with us along the way — as well as a snoop at the stuff you couldn’t stop buying.
“My biggest challenge is a plastic-free solution for freezing blackberries. I pick about 20 gallons every summer and freeze them flat in one-gallon zipper-lock bags. I’d love to get away from plastic. The gallon-size silicone bags are too expensive, and glass jars take up too much space in the freezer. Watcha got?”
Deputy editor Simone Kitchens uses these compostable resealable gallon bags to freeze batches of waffles (which she makes in herTeflon-free ceramic waffle maker).
I'm not one to panic but I definitely tossed all of mine immediately. It's not like I ever liked them; just cheap utilitarian kitchen items. And sometimes the ends would melt and chip a bit. Even if it isn't toxic, could you imagine your dining guest having to spit out their food because they're chewing on a shard of plastic? Wood and steel cooking utensils feel and look better anyway. (But definitely check the labels for the coating on the wood because some of those coatings are toxic when heated.)
We did toss our black spatulas and replace with silicone, but we still have some black plastic, less used utensils.
Living in 2025 means finding out that almost everything, from plastics to politics, could kill you somehow but lacking the power as an individual to do anything meaningful about it. Que sera, sera.
But it’s been much harder to give up your deli containers
hey_now
July 23, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Unfortunately, based on the criteria at the top of the piece—light, clear, stackable, universal lid, extremely cheap—this piece just confirms there’s nothing as good for the job as deli containers. It’s not a virtue problem, it’s a design problem—until a non-plastic alternative checks all those boxes, deli containers will remain the preferred choice.
the pricing is off the charts.....when people around me start dropping dead from microplastic poisoning I'll rethink a black+blum, but until then deli containers are the best kitchen hack evahhhh
If you want to be a plastic-free (ish) baker, you have to get creative.
wtfisher
July 22, 2025 at 12:50 PM
I'm still trying to find a perfect no plastic alternative for covering rising loaves that need to stay humid but can't be touched. Currently inelegantly tenting a damp towel over a sheet pan with deli container supports.
Aside from the point of the article--the hilarity of dropping "my mother is Alice Waters" in the opening!
I loathe using cling film as it just FEELS like you're killing a turtle every time you throw it away. Most of the time I've switched to using airtight containers for everything (mason jars in particular), but there are some use cases--cooling a sabayon in the fridge without it developing a skin--where I fear nothing else will do. But I've been using the same roll for years now, schlepped across the world.
Plus, one plastic-free coffee method we hadn’t thought of first.
mellowmop
July 23, 2025 at 4:21 AM
My coffee doesn’t touch plastic at any stage. It’s because I buy Nespresso Instant. It’s brewed and freeze-dried in large metal cylinders, comes packaged in a large glass container, goes directly into my ceramic mug, and is mixed with water boiled in my tempered glass electric kettle. Perfection!
And, just remember, reducing plastic doesn’t always mean you need to buy new stuff.
crystalclearpartyice
July 24, 2025 at 12:26 AM
I know they’re not trendy anymore and they have some plastic parts (that don’t touch food), but a regular ol’ instant pot makes passable rice and also works for slow cooking.
