The other day, I was opening up a package of quart-size Ziploc bags, when I happened to read some messaging on the packaging. And so I learned that this product was "Mindfully made so you can use and reuse." No BPA and phthalates. And I can safely reuse, "again and again." There was an invitation to scan a barcode to "Learn More," but I wasn't that interested.
I am quite happy that these useful little baggies are made without BPA and phthalates, as these chemicals - however useful they are in making plastics more pliable and stronger - are terrible for things like your health.
I haven't given much thought to plastic wrap and baggies, but I've been trying to cut back on my use of plastic storage containers for a while now. I first began switching to glass for storage years ago when I opened a single use plastic container I was storing croutons in and noticed a terrible odor. Of course, I noticed the terrible odor after I'd popped one of the croutons into my mouth, but I immediately spit it out and tossed all those croutons - which I really and truly wanted to add to my salad - into the trash.
It was there and then that it struck me that these items decay. And as they decay, they give off all sorts of chemical yuck.
So I pretty much stopped using those one-use plastics for storage. I use glass. And, when something comes in a plastic container, I switch it to glass as well. I will use the one-use containers for non-food items like screws and nails. And I'll use them to send leftovers home with someone. But mostly I'm avoiding them.
But what about Ziploc baggies? Are they really okie-dokie to reuse?
I certainly do still use them.
Cook up a couple of slices of bacon and, of course, the package doesn't reseal? Put the package in a Ziploc bag.
Unwind the six-miles of plastic wrap on the mozzarella to get at a piece of it? Into the Ziploc it goes.
Rye-crisp package open? Ziploc!
Leftover piece of halibut? Wrap it in plastic wrap or foil and bag it into the freezer!
Christmas cookies that I'd like to hold onto until July? Half-eaten sleeve of Girl Scout thin mints? Ziploc and leave in the upper reaches of my freezer, where hopefully I'll forget those cookies exist until July when I really need one.
Heading on a trip and not sure whether TSA does or does not require you to put your liquid toiletries in a one-quart bag? Bag away! (This was a worry back in the day when I used to travel. Now I'm worried that airport security will demand my phone, find a JD Vance meme on it, and wrestle and zip-tie me into custody.)
So I use plenty of Ziploc bags.
But reuse them?
Those one-use plastic containers? No way! But are baggies okay?
Turns out they are safe for reuse.
There are caveats. If the baggie held raw meat or the like, no.
But apparently if the baggie was used for something less microbe-y and you handwash it - inside and out - that baggie can be used up to 10 times before you need to discard it.
Good to know, given that I do have ample time to wash and rewash baggies.
But back to what got me going, which was the use of the word "mindfully."
Are Ziploc bags really mindfully made? Am I really going to mindfully use them?
Mindful is one of those words that you never hear, and all of a sudden it's everywhere. It's a perfectly a good word. I do try to be mindful about a lot of things. Like trying not to hurt anyone's feelings, and trying to not trip on a loose brick on the sidewalk. But I kind of got turned off to it a few years back when I was doing writing for a company that did corporate leardership training.
Now I really enjoyed working for these folks. The work was interesting, and the people I met there were great. I spent a fair amount of time talking to their clients, too, and much enjoyed them as well. But all of a sudden, there was all sorts of messaging around the courses centering on mindfulness.
As I said, nothing wrong with being mindful, but I became extremely mindful of how over-used the word mindfulness was becoming.
It's been a few years since I did any work for them. I'm sure they're on to some new buzzword. But for some reason, I really despised the word mindfulness. Not as much, mind you, as I disliked other corporate speak. Like the word passion, which I loathed with a white hot passion. But mindfulness was right up there.
So even if I'm not certain that my Ziplocs are being mindfully made - I mean, do the folks on the production line practice mindfulness? - I'm happy that SC Johnson, with its Ziploc bags, is mindful of my health. And I'm now going to be mindful about reusing them.
You never know what you'll learn if you're mindful about reading what's on your packaging! Not that reading the packaging is going to turn into a passion. But if I start saving big bucks on Ziploc reuse, it will be well worth it.
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