Fifteen dollars for a bowl with a lid strikes me as expensive. I’m a frugal (cheap!) girl, and I had a hard enough time going from the “4 containers for $2 minus a $1 off coupon” Gladware to the “4 containers for $6-8 and no coupons” Pyrex glass dishes.
I have to say I was intrigued and skeptical when I got to test out Life Without Plastic’s stainless steel containers. I didn’t think there would be any validating points to spend so much.
I’ve since been convinced.
(See my 2022 Life Without Plastic review, too!)
Why Stainless Steel Beats Glass
- It can go right on the stovetop. Since I more or less gave up the microwave about a year ago, I use my toaster oven and my stovetop more than most folks. Guess which one is faster? The stovetop kicks the toaster oven’s behind, but I hate dirtying the extra pot sometimes. You do know how I feel about dishes, right? I LOVE that these stainless steel dishes can be plopped right onto the stove and voila! Lunch is served.
- The kiddo factor: non-breakable. I know Maria Montessori would have me give my toddler glass dishes all the time and just teach her to use them properly. We Kimballs are clumsy people, unfortunately.
- Kiddo factor no. 2: easy to open lids. My son has trouble with the plastic lids on glass containers, and he’s almost five years old. He thinks the latches on the stainless bowls are as good as a toy.
- Lightweight. Especially when you’re packing something you’ll have to carry, stainless steel over glass is a wondrous thing.
- No plastic at all. I’m not terribly worried about the plastic lids on Pyrex glass containers, but I’ve heard from many other bloggers and commenters who are. Here’s the solution – there’s zero plastic in the stainless steel containers, so no chemical leaching concerns.
Why Stainless Steel and Glass BOTH Trump Plastic
- Please read Beth Terry of Fake Plastic Fish’s fabulous guest post about the dangers of plastic food storage containers. Glass and stainless have no health concerns.
- My favorite part, they’re not only dishwasher safe, but they dry all the way and don’t drip all over your other clean dishes because of their little nooks and crannies, like plastic containers do. Because you KNOW how I feel about dishes!
- Both can go in the toaster or conventional oven, right from the fridge. Nice – another dishes saver.
A Few Drawbacks
I’m not getting a reputation for balanced reviews for nothing. Here are the reasons I still love my glass storage containers, too:
- Stainless is pricey. However, I’m comforted by the fact that it will last forever and never break (see clumsy Kimball comment above).
- You can’t see through them. Once you get enough leftovers going in the fridge, this could be an issue. But hey – Tupperware was all opaque back in the day, too, and everyone still bought them!
- They can’t go in the microwave. For me, this is not a problem, but I understand that many people rely on the microwave for leftovers both at home and at work. You’ll want a balance of glass and stainless steel for various purposes.
Other Fun Products
The most important products that Life Without Plastic carries, in my opinion, is the glass baby bottles (no longer available) and child sippys. We need to protect our littlest ones from any potential plastic leaching as much as possible, and if you can’t breastfeed (or if you pump), please seek out a plastic-free bottle option. My friend with twins didn’t get to test it, because her girls were already too big for the nipple size (I forgot to specify; make sure you remember!). It will be put to good use by someone soon though!
I didn’t get one of these for review, but I have to give a shoutout to a product we use almost every day: our diaper bag staple is a 12-oz. Klean Kanteen with sippy spout. If you are prone to leave liquid in a bag for more than a few hours (ahem, maybe like a few days like me), you really need to avoid those plastics, which leach chemicals over time and with heat.
I also got to test out the stainless steel hot meal container, which is an awesome product for anyone trying to avoid the microwave AND avoid plastic, because you can heat up your food properly on the stovetop in the morning and have a hot meal at lunchtime. This is the modern-day version of the classic soup thermos that construction workers are often portrayed with. It’s shorter and wider, more like a traditional bowl.
After my daughter broke two glass dishes off her highchair tray in one week, I changed my mind about switching her to glass drinking glasses. I *cringe* actually use little bitty plastic ones. I was just saying before I revisited the Life Without Plastic site that I wished someone made lightweight, stainless steel cups for little ones. Well, duh, Katie – they do.
Disclosure: Life Without Plastics supplied three products for my review and two for you, but in no way did they influence my opinion or require a positive review. This post also contains affiliate links to Life Without Plastic. See my full disclosure statement here.
I’m well known for honest, thorough product reviews…
…and you can always tell a real family has run these products through the gauntlet.
When I review a type of item, I try to review a LOT of different brands! From over a dozen reusable sandwich bags to over 120 natural mineral sunscreens, I’m your girl for straight-up info about natural, real foodie items you’re considering buying.
Click here to see more product reviews and you’ll also love my resources page, with REAL products that have passed my rigorous testing enough to be “regulars” in the Kimball household, plus some other comprehensive reviews. Updated at least once a year to boot the losers and add new gems!
my best avoiding plastics tip is to go to garage sales or thrift stores and cheaply replace all plastics in the kitchen. If you don’t have plastic, you won’t use it! 🙂
stumbled this post
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2UlcGO/staging.kitchenstewardship.com/2009/08/27/effective-homemade-deodorant-my-baby-steps-story/
follow you on twitter and tweet
http://twitter.com/matt4melis/status/12026296795
new product? I didn’t see straws on their website. Stainless steel straws, maybe?!?
I’m most interested in the Stainless Steel Water/Juice Jug since my pitchers are plastic.
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My success with reducing plastic is changing out all our dishes and cups to glass, using reusable grocery bags, buying glass storage containers, and make most food from scratch to avoid plastic packaging.
i really need to do better when it comes to using plastic…this would really help! thanks for the chance 🙂
My best avoiding plastic tip is one that is often repeated in the “green” circles: take your own water bottles with you in the car so you do not have to buy those plastic disposable water bottles at the store.
.-= Stacy´s last blog ..Have you checked out the new Simple Living Media sites? =-.
A new product? What about stainless steel straws? I was thinking that we needed an alternative to our disposable straws that we use to drink our green smoothies. I would definitely buy those!
.-= Stacy´s last blog ..Have you checked out the new Simple Living Media sites? =-.
I love the new kleen kanteen wide mouth jars and plan to make that purchase soon!
.-= Stacy´s last blog ..Have you checked out the new Simple Living Media sites? =-.
We’ve reduced our plastics consumption by slowly replacing plastic storage containers with glass. Oh, and my favorite glass storage that costs very little for a lot? Canning jars! I thought it strange at first, but they are great and inexpensive to replace if broken!
.-= Stacy´s last blog ..Have you checked out the new Simple Living Media sites? =-.
I’ve been weeding out my plastics by replacing items with glass, mostly. I replaced our plastic water bottles for stainless steel. I don’t use plastic wrap any more at all.
I love the stainless steel containers. They sound wonderful. I’ve never seen them before!
My biggest way to reduce the plastic is to watch how much comes in the house. Buy in bulk, actually use those reusable bags and hold off on any of those single-serving drink containers. My only wish is I could watch the soda consumption – but I try to go cans-only now!
.-= Robbie´s last blog ..Peas and carrots, carrots and peas… =-.
I love the little baby set with the cup bowl and plate. It would be a perfect baby gift for a friend!
I subscribe via google reader.
I try hard to reduce my plastic by using cloth bags, shopping in bulk and not buying things with lots of packaging
I subsribe via google reader
I just subscribed via email! 🙂
.-= Anastasia B´s last blog ..Green Toys Sand Play Set Review and Giveaway =-.
An idea for a new product: how about some stainless steel Popsicle molds, that would be great to make my own healthy fruit popsicles!
.-= Anastasia B´s last blog ..Green Toys Sand Play Set Review and Giveaway =-.
Another thing I like at Life Without Plastic is the To Go Ware Tiffin
.-= Anastasia B´s last blog ..Green Toys Sand Play Set Review and Giveaway =-.
We still use some plastic containers, but only for cold storage. We don’t use a microwave either 🙂 I would love to switch to all stainless, it is so much easier to clean as well!
.-= Anastasia B´s last blog ..Green Toys Sand Play Set Review and Giveaway =-.
One tip I have for avoiding plastic is to save glass jars that food comes in, wash them and reuse them as food storage containers. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this for years but it works great.
.-= Jill´s last blog .. =-.
I love the felted food they have at Life Without Plastic! I had no idea they had things like this.
.-= Jill´s last blog .. =-.
I was greatly inspired by your blog to clean out my plastic drawer this week. Even though I haven’t gotten rid of all of it I did get rid of any 3, 5, and 7 plastic. Now these containers would help me get rid of the rest! I have been buying up lots of glass storage containers at thrift stores. I do love that you can stick them in the microwave. One less dish to clean!
.-= Jill´s last blog .. =-.
I am an email subscriber.
.-= Jill´s last blog .. =-.
I’m really interested in more info on whole grains.
.-= Jill´s last blog .. =-.
Just subscribed!
I just bought a set of pyrex, so I’m on my way! I have also recently begun using reusable grocery sacks.
I usually carry around a stainless steel water bottle rather than a plastic water bottle.
I subscribe to you by e-mail!
We have made the step to add more glass food storage containers, but I’ve only been getting rid of the plastic as they break. Maybe I need to speed up the disposal of the plastic?!
I am an email subscriber, love your site!!
Lisa
Lrimerman at comcast dot net
We use cloth bags to shop and we currently use glass and pyrex food containers for leftover storage. I would love these stainless steel containers.
Lisa
lrimerman at comcast dot net
My best “avoiding plastic” tip would be to eat more from the produce section!!! (That’s healthiest too!)
What interests me most at Life without Plastic is the stainless steel storage containers, especially the vacuum seal ones. I’ve often thought of storing dry goods in glass containers, but I know that bugs will sometimes get into storage containers like those (had a moth surprise once in college!). Stainless/vacuum seal sounds like a good alternative (but expensive!).
Hi, I think this is a great idea, to reduce plastic in the home, especially with food use. We don’t nuke it but use it to store food in. I’ll have to start re-thinking this now!
I’m trying to cut down on plastice storage containers by using more glass/pyrex.
When concerns over BPA really hit the media about 2 years ago I was saddened to see that most of my Tupperware (the name brand stuff, not the cheapo stuff) had BPA in it. I hated to do it because Tupperware is so expensive, but I got rid of it. Everything that had BPA. We mainly use the glass containers with the plastic lids. And yes, they are heavy! Nice to see an alternative. Would love to try some out!
.-= Erin´s last blog ..Free Financial Peace University Lesson =-.
When I moved we ended up in a situation where there is very little ability to recycle and it’s horribly inconvenient. As I try very hard to not buy food in metal cans (lined with BPA plastics) I try to buy my tomatoes and corn and what not in glass jars. Once the meal has been served I wash the jars out and use them as storage, both in the fridge and in the pantry. Works great and its free!!
I actually first found LWP when looking for steel ice trays, and I’m still interested in those.
Also, I filter all my water and I haven’t found options besides the plastic tabletop plastic jug filtration. Right now I filter and then transfer the water into the fridge into glass containers but that does get old:)
I’m actually really glad you posted a review of their lunch containers. I’ve been looking at options for lunch bags and, because of the price, hadn’t decided on a particular style yet. I bought the steel tumblers for my kids (we have ceramic tiles and after the 15th glass cup was broken my hubby put his foot down) from Life Without Plastic and I really love them; though I REALLY want that wool lunch bag!
I’ve got you in my google reader, does that count?
I’ve been working diligently at moving plastics out of the family for about a year now. We’ve moved to Kleen Kanteens for work and lunch, and all glass or metal storage containers. At first my family thought I was insane, but they are use to it now! I also currently live in Europe and so we exclusively use cloth grocery bags!
I’m in love with the Japanese Wooden Lacquerware Set – such beautiful pieces!
Subscribed via Reader!
We’ve been working on phasing out the plastic food storage containers, but still rely on some occasionally. These stainless steel containers look amazing!
I have never heard of these stainless containers! I have tried to switch over to glass but am a klutz so these might be my solution!!
My best tip would be to bring your own cutlery when you go out so you don’t have to use plastic ones! (I know Beth mentioned this in her post but I only just recently realized how much plastic is produced/used while on the go!) Also, I’m all for the stainless steel water bottle while on the go too!
Life without Plastic could carry stainless steel or glass straws. (I hope they dont have them because I looked and didn’t see them! lol)