Reducing waste in your kitchen doesnât end when youâre done cooking. How you store your leftovers has a huge impact on how much plastic waste you generate. Here are a few of our favorite food storage products that will truly help you prevent waste in all its forms.
For Snacks and Meal Prep, Try: Sâwell S’nack Savers

Our friends at Sâwell donât just make those stylish water bottles youâre seeing everywhere; they also make nifty containers for keeping your favorite snacks and lunches fresh and your dinner prep ingredients accessible. Their line of food storage solutions is one of the most fun additions weâve seen in the space recently, and weâre over the moon to partner with them on our brand new S’well S’nack Saver containers. Add one to your next Imperfect order to get snacking in style.
For Replacing Plastic Bags, Try: StasherÂ
Stasher bags are fully reusable silicone food storage bags that will have you locking Ziploc bags out of your life for good. They’re durable, dishwasher safe, endlessly reusable, and made with non-toxic materials. Their bags come in a wide range of sizes and are perfect for storing that sandwich or taking some of our Dark Chocolate Covered Pretzel Pieces on a hike.
For Replacing Plastic Wrap, Try: AbeegoÂ

Imagine if food wrap wasnât so cumbersome and wasteful to use. Thatâs Abeego! Abeego makes reusable food wraps made with beeswax that are washable, reusable for up to a year, and then biodegradable after that. Theyâre not just a better alternative to plastic wrap, though. Theyâre also breathable, which makes foods last longer in your fridge. Between chatting with their founder on our podcast and using their wraps religiously in our kitchens, thereâs a lot of buzz about Abeego at Imperfect.Â
You can also make your own beeswax wraps with this easy tutorial by upcycling old (but clean) dishcloths or going to the thrift store and picking out a linen tablecloth with a funky pattern and cutting it into squares.
For Keeping Food Fresh for Longer, Try: Rubbermaid FreshworksÂ
Weâre normally skeptical of food storage products with claims like this, but these containers truly keep fragile produce like berries and loose lettuce fresh for way longer than most other storage solutions. An elevated tray on the bottom keeps moisture away from your food and promotes air circulation, while a filter in the top regulates how much CO2 and oxygen there is inside. All this fancy technology keeps your precious produce from wilting or molding before youâre ready to eat it.
For a Stylish and Functional Centerpiece, Try: Emile Henry French Ceramic Kitchen Storage Collection
Few things look more inviting than a big bowl of seasonal produce. But itâs best to thoughtfully separate your produce to prevent those hyperactive pears and gassy apples from pressing fast forward on your beloved onions and potatoes. This charming ceramic produce bowl solves a lot of these problems with a two-tiered storage solution that keeps things that prefer the dark (like onions or potatoes) in a lower level, while letting items like pears and apples breathe freely up top. Itâs an elegant solution to a food storage conundrum that makes your kitchen as classy as it is functional!
For a Versatile Workhorse Item, Try: Ball Jars

They may be trendy and theyâre certainly not new, but few things are a better investment for a sustainable and functional kitchen in our experience. Glass jars are ideal for leftover soups and sauces and are also the perfect vessel for pickling or fermenting your favorite fruits or veggies. We recommend loading up on larger sizes for batches of stock and pickles, and smaller sizes for jams, sauces, and dips.
Lettuce know about your favorite food storage products in the comments!
21 Comments
Meg D
September 2, 2020 at 7:10 pmCannot agree on the Stasher bags enough. We’ve tried several brands of reusable zip bags over the years and these are the first I’ve LOVED. Even small children can open and seal them. They whiz through the dishwasher, zap in the microwave, hang out in the freezer and do serious work in the fridge. We throw our garden beans straight in them and toss in the fridge, then just grab, rinse, pop in the microwave for 3 minutes with a slightly open seal and pop them on our plate. They can do everything from freezing broccoli to microwaving popcorn and we’re super excited about the new stand-up sizes. Ball jars have also been a staple in our kitchen, but we’re still looking for a beeswax wrap that doesn’t have “tree resin” (we’re allergic) in the ingredients. Not quite as high tech as the Rubbermaid containers you mentioned, the Dollar Tree frequently carries “berry boxes” in the summer that have the same idea of a raised “basket” inside of a container to keep delicate produce lasting longer. We also love them for storing celery sticks or cucumber slices in lightly salted water (or pickles in brine), just life the basket to drain and serve.
Imperfect Foods
September 17, 2020 at 7:30 pmThey’re oh so fantastic! Love to hear that they’ve been helping your family cut back on plastics!
Erika
September 2, 2020 at 7:15 pmI have lots of ball jars I use for storage, but got frustrated with the metal lids rusting. I don’t can, so I didn’t need them. I found a large set of plastic, screw on lids that are perfect for storage purposes.
I also got a set of snapware glass storage containers and am phasing out my plastic storage containers! Much easier in the dishwasher as the lids go up top and the glass can go on the lower rack. đ
Imperfect Foods
September 17, 2020 at 7:31 pmWoohoo! Love to hear that!
Jim Jordan
September 2, 2020 at 9:27 pmI love these silicone storage containers. Dishwasher, oven, and microwave safe.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F2P4ZC8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Karry Ebert
September 2, 2020 at 10:45 pmWe always use Ball jars for leftovers and food prep. They are easy to find for the family who canât find anything in the refrigerator. Grapes, blueberries, strawberries are all cleaned and cut if needed and placed in the jars on display on the snack shelf. We do the same with carrot and celery sticks. Oh and once a week I prep salad toppings in jars for easy access at lunch. Also if you send leftovers home with someone itâs not upsetting if they keep the jar đ. Next favorite is beeswax cloth food wraps.
Imperfect Foods
September 17, 2020 at 8:35 pmHow cute! Love the idea of using them to make sure everything is visible and easily enjoyable; a perfect way to fight food waste!
Marilyn
September 3, 2020 at 1:04 amI love ball jars but I found they bust if freezing soups/liquids. Perhaps there was something that I didnât know to do first, like cool completely and/or leave space at the top. But after 2 tries and the resulting crack – sometimes a month or later- I didnât try again. Any tips for people using them successfully would be appreciated.
Imperfect Foods
September 17, 2020 at 7:39 pmOh no! Letting them cool entirely and leaving room at the top should certainly help prevent those troubles!
David
October 6, 2020 at 9:10 pmI think they sell spevific “Ball” jars for freezing also!
David
October 6, 2020 at 9:11 pm*specific
Debora Adams
February 2, 2021 at 3:14 amDon’t fill all the way to the top. Leave around a half inch for the liquid to expand with freezing. I
Imperfect
February 5, 2021 at 7:38 pmBerry smart! đ
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October 28, 2020 at 9:41 pmValuable information. Fortunate me I fâ˛áĽnd your site accidentally, and I’m shocked whĘ thŃs accident diÔ not hapĎened earlier!
I bookmarked Ńt.
Imperfect Foods
November 3, 2020 at 10:18 pmWoohoo! So happy that we found each other!
Allison
April 15, 2021 at 3:14 amAny suggestions for storing mushrooms? Paper bags are good, but not always available, and they are single-use. Thank you so much for any advice!
Imperfect Foods
April 17, 2021 at 3:53 pmThe main recommendations we have for storing mushrooms are either in their original packaging, or in a paper bag. If you don’t want the paper bag to become a single use item, you could always label it and set it aside after use for the next time you have mushrooms in the house!
Leila Luginbill
September 9, 2021 at 1:55 amI have found these wonderful little pieces of paper that are infused with organic spices to prolong the freshness of fruits and vegetables. They are called Fresh Paper and can be found on Amazon. They actually do workâŚvegetables like broccoli and lettuce last significantly longer in the refrigerator when these little pieces of paper are included in the storage bag.
Imperfect
September 29, 2021 at 7:50 pmVery cool!!! đđđĽ
Amy A
December 2, 2021 at 8:29 amDebbie Meyer Green Bags and Bins. And before you all jump on me – Yes, I know they are plastic. But you use the same ones over and over and over and over for years and your fruit and veggie food waste will go down to practically zero.
No joke. Most everything lasts weeks, sometimes months. We keep one in the fridge just for the vegetable trimmings, ehich we save up for a week or two instead of discarding, and then turn into vegetable broth. (And then whatever is left after the broth is strained out goes into compost.- Just so you know we’re pretty serious around here.)
So they are plastic yes, but their net carbon footprint is negative. I hope Imperfect will give them a shot .
Imperfect
December 2, 2021 at 11:55 amHow amazing! Thank you so much for sharing and thank you too for being such an incredible sustainable warrior. We’re all in this together and every little thing is making a difference đđ