I grew up in a household where my mom would use, wash, dry, and re-use zip-top plastic bags until they turned a slightly alarming shade of yellow or sported holes too large to ignore. Our kitchen was always littered with ghostly remnants of snackage in various stages of the drying process, and much to my husband’s distress, it’s a habit that I carried into adulthood.
For me, it was more of an environmental decision than a financial one — in case you missed it, plastic takes hundreds of years to degrade in a landfill. Not cute. On top of that, there are enough harrowing documentaries about sea creatures with stomachs full of plastic for me to hold fast in my decision to contribute to that as little as possible by reusing my plastic bags.
The stubborn woman I am, I had no issues with washing away the granola crumbs and hanging my prized plastic bags on any protruding surface I could find. But after spending much more time at home over the last year, my husband started to get fed up with the army of wrinkled, ever-so-slightly-potato-chip-scented bags fluttering away, dripping water onto every conceivable surface in our kitchen. For the sake of my marriage, I decided to spring for an alternative (and much more sanitary) option called Stasher.
Stasher makes plastic bags 2.0. Not only are they lightweight, space-saving, and actually reusable, but they’re microwave, freezer, and dishwasher safe too. They’re made of smooth, sturdy silicone that’s designed to last for years without getting ripped, cloudy, or generally grimy. Since they’re dishwasher-safe, that means that I can store particularly pungent foods in them without any fear that they’ll carry the scent of wasabi peas or blue cheese for eternity, and I don’t have to hang them up anywhere to dry either.
I’ve also found that these bags do a much better job at protecting frozen foods from freezer burn, and they’re perfect for when I have half-empty boxes of pasta or grains laying around. The flexible shape and size makes them a massive space-saver compared to the clunky, mis-matched tupperware that’s slowly taken over all of our cabinets (isn’t adulting the best?).
Plus, the satisfying press-seal top ensures that no matter what I’m storing in them will remain secure — I’ve even been using the larger bags to take my lunch to work. Not to mention, I sleep much more soundly knowing that my contribution to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch has been slightly diminished with the purchase of these bags. I’m human, so I do still have an emergency stash of zip-top bags stashed away under the sink for emergencies.
But, I’ve found myself reaching for my Stasher bags 9 times out of 10, and I’m decidedly more intentional with my plastic bag usage now. As much as I resisted admitting it to my husband, these reusable silicone bags are the superior alternative to single-use plastic and I’ve recommended them to everyone I know.
