11 Eco-Friendly Alternatives to Ziploc Bags For All Your Snack Storage Needs
What’s the need for alternatives to Ziploc bags?
The answer may seem obvious, but in case not, newsflash: Ziploc bags (and all off-brand imitations) are not only bad for the environment, but they’re also unfit for human health.
The world is experiencing a crisis of plastic pollution unlike never before, and Ziploc bags are essentially not recyclable.
While marketed as BPA-free, it’s not certain if Ziploc bags are BPA-free really or if hormone-disrupting chemicals are still present.
Then there are phthalates used to make most plastics more durable, which contribute to numerous health complications.
In short: Ziploc bags are a toxic, single-use, non-renewable plastic product—making them far from an eco-friendly choice.
Now more than ever is our time to find sustainable, (ideally) reusable alternatives to plastic Ziploc bags.
But what should be used instead of plastic bags?
Luckily, whether it’s for a sandwich, frozen meal prepping, soup, your kid’s lunch, or leftovers, there are eco-friendly Ziploc bags and plastic-free food storage containers for your needs.
Ranging from metal and glass containers to beeswax wraps and silicone reusable ziplock bags, we’ve got you and your food covered for what can be used (and reused!) instead of plastic.
Now that we’re on the same page about how “trashy” single-use plastic Ziploc bags are, let’s dig into the best eco-friendly freezer bags and more (or watch our video on the topic below).
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The Full List Of Ziploc Bag Alternatives
Reusable Ziploc Bag Alternatives
Compostable & Biodegradable Sandwich Bags
The Best Reusable Ziploc Bags & Alternatives
1. Stasher
About Stasher’s Silicone Ziploc Reusable Bags
Stasher is the OG silicone sustainable Ziploc bags designer, and offers more than twenty different reusable silicone bags and food storage items that are safe for the freezer, microwave, dishwasher, and oven.
Since these silicone bags are made with 100% pure platinum-grade silicone (higher than food-grade), they’re free of BPA, BPS, lead, phthalates, latex, or any other kind of toxins we’d rather not have absorbed into our food.
About Stasher
Stasher uses an SA8000-certified factory for their reusable silicone bags manufacturing.
Because silicone isn’t biodegradable, they partner with TerraCycle to responsibly recycle unwanted or damaged silicone bags for free.
The brand also gives 1% to environmental initiatives globally, totaling more than $1.3 million thus far.
2. Khala
About Khala’s Alternatives To Snack Bags & Plastic Wrap
We love to use beeswax wraps and Khala makes them better still by adding a vegan twist.
Made from certified organic cotton/hemp fabric mixed with consciously-sourced soy wax, jojoba and coconut oil, and tree resin, they’re totally non-toxic and compostable.
A single large vegan cloth can be purchased or a variety pack of various sizes.
Use them to cover a bowl, wrap up half-cut veggies, or as eco-friendly sandwich bags, making plastic sandwich bags and wrap a thing of the past.
About Khala
A family-owned business with everything handcrafted in Colorado, Khala is a certified 1% for the Planet company.
Their brand is certified by Green America.
3. Bees Wrap
About Bee’s Wrap’s Sustainable Alternatives to Ziploc Sandwich Bags
Plastic wrap, bee gone!
If you’re looking for alternatives to plastic bags for food storage of all kinds, “bee” the change you wish to see in the world with Bee’s Wrap.
With simply the warmth of your hands, these handy reusable wraps will mold to most food items without any need for wasteful tin foil or plastic.
Their wraps are made of GOTS-certified organic cotton coated with antibacterial beeswax, tree resin, and jojoba oil to store food fresh.
About Bee’s Wrap
Vermont-based Bee’s Wrap is a certified B Corp, along with Green America, and 1% For the Planet.
With proper care and cleaning beeswax wraps will last a long time, but when they do wear out, they can be used as fire kindling or composted.
4. Ziptuck Kids
About Ziptuck Kid’s Eco-Friendly Ziploc Bags
Ziptuck Kid‘s reusable snack bags are made of FDA-grade EVA material from recycled plastic.
With playful designs perfect for kids lunches (or for spicing up a boring office lunch) these are some of the best alternatives to small ziplock bags.
They offer a lunch set, reusable snack bags, and sandwich bags. All Ziptuck reusable bags are easily hand-washable with soapy water.
About Ziptuck Kid
Ziptuck is made by Full Circle Home, who are a fully “plastic neutral” company, meaning they have a plastic bank for collecting and transforming every ounce of plastic waste they use.
As members of Global Neutral Standard, any plastic they purchase is audited and certified.
They also provide carbon-neutral shipping.
5. Green City Living
About Green City Living’s Eco-Friendly Snack Bags
Ziploc bag alternatives have never been cuter.
Available in near-limitless patterns and colors, the EcoBagit! by Green City Living is a high-quality reusable sandwich bag entirely handmade from laminated cotton.
It’s laminated with a polyurethane film that’s been professionally tested for potential leaching toxins. It’s free of lead, BPA, phthalates, and PVC—even after being run through multiple heated dishwasher cycles.
They also perform their own quality tests to ensure longevity. The founder is still using the first one made in 2011!
Featuring a handy carry tag and a sturdy zipper, the bags can be safely washed by hand, in the dishwasher, or the washing machine.
About Green City Living
Mother of five, nurse, and wife named Kathy first started Green City Living twelve years ago to protect the environment and to ensure a good life for her family’s future generations.
The EcoBagit! was her first product but it now joins a host of other USA-made sustainable kitchen products.
They contribute 2.5% of all sales to grassroots environmental activism through the Emergency Climate Fund.
6. U Konserve
About U Konserve’s Stainless Steel Ziploc Bag Alternative
We don’t need to “steel” any more of our waterways with single-use plastic pollution, so an investment in U Konserve’s high quality stainless steel reusable containers with a silicone lid is well worth it.
All products are non-toxic and tested by CPSIA-accredited independent labs to ensure they are free of lead, BPAs, and phthalates.
About U Konserve
For fifteen years, family owned and operated U Konserve has provided reusable, waste-free lunch kit items for a low-impact lifestyle.
The brand is a certified B Corp and a member of 1% For the Planet.
7. ECOlunchbox
About ECOlunchbox’s Non-Plastic Alternatives to Ziploc Bags
ECOlunchbox has more than ten unique stainless steel containers and bento boxes for all your food storage needs.
Some feature a stainless steel lid, while others have a food grade silicone lid.
Our favorites include the Tri Bento Tiffin and Wet Bento Box for soups and other liquid lunches.
About ECOlunchbox
All products by Certified B Corp ECOlunchbox are plastic-free and shipped in recyclable materials.
Additionally, the female owned and run business offsets yearly the CO2 equivalent to 4.7 million pounds of coal burned.
8. Glasslock
About Glasslock’s Eco Friendly Glass Storage Containers
Wondering how to freeze meat without plastic?
Glass is your best bet.
When it comes to eco-friendly alternatives to Ziploc freezer bags, be sure to invest in Glasslock’s reusable glass containers, which are microwave safe, dishwasher safe, freezer safe, oven safe, non-toxic, and BPA-free.
Glass containers are made of durable tempered glass (from silica, soda ash, limestone, and other natural components) and the lids are made of high grade polypropylene.
About Glasslock
All Glasslock products are FDA-approved and one of the safest food storage containers around.
Compostable & Biodegradable Sandwich Bags
9. BioBag
About BioBag’s Sustainable Alternatives to Ziploc Bags
Why be trashy and use plastic Ziploc bags, when you can purchase a reusable alternative like BioBag’s resealable and compostable sandwich bags?
These ASTM D6400 and BPI-certified commercially compostable sandwich bags are made from plant-based plastic using GMO-free crops.
The bags are created from an innovative bioplastic from the plant starch, vegetable oil, and compostable polymers.
About BioBag
For nearly twenty years, BioBag has been synonymous with certified bioplastic compostable bags made of the best quality.
They work with local community governments to educate people on the importance of keeping organics out of landfills and to help begin food waste composting programs.
In their words: “BioBag has one mission—to keep organic waste from ever entering a landfill.”
10. ECOlunchbox
About ECOlunchbox’s Alternatives To Ziploc Plastic Bags
ECOlunchbox is back with more kid-friendly, natural alternatives to Ziploc bags.
Their stainless steel options are sturdy, but their Organic Cotton Lunch Bag is ideal when you need something flexible and lightweight.
Made from GOTS-certified Indian organic cotton, it comes in four green-certified screen printing design options: whale, dolphin, seahorse, or turtle.
About ECOlunchbox
All products by ECOlunchbox are plastic-free and shipped in recyclable materials.
ECOlunchbox is also a certified B-Corp, which means they are a purpose-driven business that adheres to rigorous standards of social and environmental performance.
11. Lunchskins
About Lunchskins’s Alternative to Ziploc Bags
Saying “bye” to single-use plastic waste has never been easier (or more affordable!) thanks to Lunchskins convenient and inexpensive Ziploc alternatives.
Over three billion bags have been replaced by Lunchskins, who make recyclable and compostable sandwich bags, plus reusable sandwich bags with zippers or velcro.
The reusable food storage bags are dishwasher safe and the paper ones can be recycled if unsoiled with any greasy residue, or composted.
About Lunchskins
Lunchskins has a mission of giving. The female-owned and run company slanted 1% from each order to protect the planet.
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Why Choose Eco-Friendly Alternatives to Ziploc Bags
More than any other nation, the US loves their plastic. Americans use an average of 365 plastic bags per person per year—or one for every day of the year. Tallied at 100 billion plastic bags per year, that’s 12 million barrels of crude oil to produce that much plastic.
Is Ziploc environmentally friendly in any way?
Since Ziploc bags were invented in the 1950s, humans have manufactured 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic, 6.3 billion of which is in the landfill. Only 9% has been properly recycled.
Meanwhile, that plastic could take up to 1,000 years to decompose. In fact, since plastic is such a new invention, we have no idea how long it will take to decompose.
Decomposing microplastics are the scourge of the Earth today, with the United Nations recently declaring a global ocean plastics emergency.
Not only have microplastics overtaken our waterways and their food chains, but microplastics were also recently discovered in beer, tap water, human blood, breast milk, and babies’ placenta.
The phthalates in plastic can also cause reproductive issues, endocrine disruption, developmental problems, higher levels of oxidative stress, disrupted hormones, and more.
But we’re not here to alarm you, we’re here to congratulate you on your choice to choose alternatives to plastics!
Not only is it better for the environment and your health, but also your wallet.
Families are saving hundreds–even thousands–of dollars per year by choosing reusable options.
How We Found The Best Alternatives To Ziplock Freezer & Sandwich Bags
We factored in a few considerations before giving the green seal to this list of freezer bag alternatives.
Materials:
The best materials are organic, natural, recycled, recyclable, and / or compostable—AKA not plastic Ziploc bags.
Glass is considered the best plastic free food storage option, since it’s fully recyclable, non-toxic, and abundantly available.
After that, are options like organic cotton or non-toxic stainless steel.
If any plastic-like substance is used, it should be from recycled plastics that are BPA-free.
Silicone, while still a synthetic polymer, is also acceptable because of its long-lasting durability. By the time you need to dispose of your reusable silicone bags, hopefully there will be more recycling options.
- Certifications: Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), ASTM D6400, Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI)
Sustainable & Ethical Business Practices:
The best Ziploc bag alternatives have green business practices like sustainable packaging for shipping, carbon offset programs.
We prefer if products are made locally in the USA with fair wages, as opposed to underpaid labor in places like India or China. Ethical manufacturing certifications help in this regard.
We also appreciate when a company is founded or run by women and/or minority groups and participates in charitable initiatives.
- Certifications: Fair Trade, B Corp, or Social Accountability International (SA8000)
Final Thoughts On Eco-Friendly Alternatives To Ziploc Bags
What can you use instead of freezer bags?
Pretty much anything else, and with these eco-friendly zip lock bags, it’s never been easier to just say “no” to plastic.
Still, we know it can be hard work to ditch the convenience of disposables, so congratulate yourself for every green choice you implement.
Every little decision made when storing food adds up to a bigger impact than you might realize!
The next time you’re having a potluck or a picnic with friends or family, share these Ziploc bag alternatives.
Together, we can create a world of plastic-free food storage that supports low waste living, contributes to healthy ecosystems, and positively impacts sustainable food systems.
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