Trying Out Some Plastic Alternatives
I picked up my Azure Standard order yesterday. I don’t have to meet the truck anymore on late Monday nights, because a friend retrieves my order and then I go grab it from her when I’m out in town on Wednesdays. I am so thankful to have the help with that, being as we live so far from town and I don’t like driving at night. Who am I kidding, I really don’t like driving at all!
I added three Natural Value products to my order — wax paper bags, wax paper and unbleached parchment paper. The wax paper products are brushed with natural wax, not plastic wax. The paper is compostable and made from recycled materials. I plan to wash and reuse the wax paper bags several times before composting them. Even so, they are not expensive. This morning, I wrapped our purchased goat cheese and a peeled onion in them for refrigerator storage. I also used two of them in packing Jeff’s lunch today. So far, so good. The parchment paper I don’t expect to be much different from what I already purchase; however, Natural Value’s parchment paper is much less expensive than what I can find in town.
I purchased 8 more gallon-size glass jars from Azure. I’ve mentioned them before, when I purchased them for making Kombucha. With lids, each jar costs about a little over $3. I will get some every month, until I’ve converted my pantry plastics over to glass. This gallon-size jar is perfect for 5 lb. quantities of most bulk foods. This morning, I filled up the 8 beautiful jars with various seeds, coconut, teff and tapioca. The jars just fit in my cupboard. I think it would be nice to have a walk-in pantry someday with shelves lined with easy accessible jars. Who knows if I’ll ever have that, though!
Gallon glass jars with seeds
Someone asked awhile back how to store cheese if not in plastic. Well, I think the natural wax paper bags or natural wax paper would work wonderfully. But, here’s something neat and old-fashioned that I read in a cheesemaking book. I can’t find the book to tell you which one it was; it must be a library book that I returned already. Grape leaves make wonderful wraps for cheese. So if you’re one of those blessed people who have his or her own grape vine, you’ve got cheese wraps already!
I asked our butcher, when picking up our 1/2 grass fed beef recently, how the meat was packaged. See, I thought it was two layers of butcher paper. But I was wrong. The inner layer is wax paper and the outer layer is butcher paper. So, if one were to use natural wax paper on the inside and then butcher paper on the outside (perhaps even parchment paper), one would have a completely compostable, recycled-material meat packaging system. I am hoping this will be cost effective for us, when we are at the stage of raising and processing our own meat.
I appreciate all your comments and responses on my poll seeking your interest in plastic-alternative kitchen products. I am truly thankful for the time you took to provide me with feedback!
I hate driving too. The idea of wax paper inside and butcher paper outside sounds wonderful. I will try implementing it.
so- what exactly is azure standard? is it like a food co-op? when i looked at the website that is what it looked like but it also talked about how it ships ups or by truck. the problem w/ so many of the food co-ops is that I just don’t use 12 boxes of this or 50 lbs of that.. just curious about exactly what azure is…
Amy, Azure Standard is a natural food supplier. It works like a co-op in that there is a minimum total order $ for a group to fill. It is currently $400 but I believe is about to go up to $1000 — and that is just for delivery on their truck. The individual’s order size must be at least $40. If you’re going to order online and have UPS ship it to you, you only have to meet the $40 individual minimum — if you’re under it, they add an extra charge onto the order.
The nice thing about Azure as opposed to other bulk food co-ops is that not only can you buy in bulk, but you can buy singles of health food store items at a significant savings to the health food store price. So if you could find a group in your area (assuming Azure comes to your area), you could probably save money without having to buy 50 lbs. of anything.
Love, Wardeh