DIY Plastic Wrap Substitute

What is plastic wrap | About the environment

In our home (and in my kitchen), I am always thinking about health, about saving money, and about the environment – and about taste, of course!

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For example, if I can:

make something healthier
save money
make it in a way that has little effect on the environment
and still have something taste good

Then, I am all over it :-)!

That also goes for what I use in my kitchen and how I buy things.

Of course, we have recycling bins and we use them. But using fewer things overall, and reusing and repurposing is really the best way “to go green” (although I don't really like that term and the political issues tied to it) and address some of the environmental issues that we face today.

Well, today I have kind of a funny little kitchen tip that has nothing to do with taste, but it will:

save money
have a beneficial effect on the environment
save time

I've never liked plastic wrap. I don't know when this all started, but I have always had a huge aversion to the stuff. Just the idea of buying a roll of plastic to use super-temporarily to cover a container and then throw it out and add to a landfill has always, well – really bugged me. I can't tell you the last time I bought a roll. And I think I've only bought one in my whole life. Really.

Now, if you use plastic wrap, that doesn't mean that I won't be your friend :-). And really, I didn't grow up in a household that practiced sustainability or anything. I just somehow had an aversion to waste built into me.

So anyhow, I love containers with reusable lids and all that stuff.

But sometimes you've got something in a bowl already – and there aren't lids for bowls, right? So why dump the stuff into another container and wash the bowl (using time and water) and then dirty up another container. That's where the plastic wrap comes in, right?

Well, here's a more sustainable way.

DIY Plastic Wrap Substitute

Necessity is the mother of invention, right?

I had some necessity recently when my son knocked over a gallon jug of vinegar and it spilled all over our hallway.

After the spill and the clean up, we couldn't find the lid and I didn't want to waste time looking for it, so I found a temporary fix using a small bag and a rubber band!!

Then I thought, “Hey, wouldn't this work on a bowl too?” And guess what, it sure does (larger bread bag and rubber band):

Now, of course, you'd need a pretty large bag to use as a cover for a large container (haven't figured that out yet), but my bread bags work great for this size. I just think that this is the coolest thing! And the rubber band works better than that cling wrap anyway.

So now you can use a great reusable plastic bag (make sure it's a clean one) and a handy-dandy rubber band the next time you need to cover a bowl or the next time you er—have a gallon of vinegar spill all over your floor and you can't find the lid – or – something like that :-).

Well, actually, it'll work anytime you're missing a lid to something.

The bags that I use are from Country Life Natural Foods and I use the 6 x 3 x 15 and 2 x 4 x 8 sizes. Code WHOLENEWMOM gets a great discount at Country Life.

These Bread Loaf Bags from Amazon and 2 x 4 x 8 bags from Amazon seem to be similar.

Now I just need a tip for not getting angry when there's a gallon of vinegar spilling all over the floor. I didn't yell that much. Really. Always working on that – the laughing at life thing.

And if you're wondering why there was a gallon jug of vinegar in my hallway – well, uh….

I was using it in the kitchen for my Homemade Dishwasher Rinse Aid and the bottle was making its way back down the hall for another handy vinegar tip that I'll be sharing in the near future. Hopefully. Too many things to write about and too little time.

How will you save time and money?

Save time – Instead of looking and looking for a lost lid, get on with your day.
Save money – Don't throw away stuff just because you lost a lid
Save money – don't buy plastic wrap anymore!
Bonus: Save the environment – repurpose rubber bands and re-use a bag instead of throwing away icky plastic wrap