Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Plastic Can Kiss My Glass

I don't know how it happened, but I've slowly and without noticing gone from a Plastic Person to a Glass Person.

It all started with the Tupperware. I've always brought my own lunch to work, and almost always that would be leftovers, because they're so easy. There's something uniquely challenging about making a sandwich first thing in the morning--slicing the bread, slicing the cheese, putting on the meat, adding mayo or mustard, lettuce or tomato. And then having to put it all away again. It's all just too much.

BUT ANYWAY.

So, yes, lunch=leftovers in Tupperware. But you know how after awhile, Tupperware will get that rough rim of plastic around the inside, and it'll be all stained orange from spaghetti or chili or whatever? That started to skeeve me out, because it occurred to me that the plastic was melting off a little, most likely in the food that I was ingesting. Gross.

Enter Pyrex. They make cool glass containers with fitted lids that are pretty much the glass equivalent to Tupperware. So I started to use those. My collection now numbers about 20 of all shapes and sizes, and I don't use plastic anymore. Plus, I have an unnatural love of Pyrex. I always want to buy the variety packs of Pyrex containers, where you get 6 different sizes in one big box. It's like Christmas! Except we don't need any more dishes, so I don't ever get to have my Pyrex Christmas. Sad.

BUT ANYWAY AGAIN.

The most recent glass conversion I've made is to these glass milk bottles from a local dairy. They're swell. They make me feel like Wally and the Beave will walk in at any moment for an ice-cold glass of milk and some cookies. I bought them so when they were empty we could use them to keep some water cold in the fridge. Now that we can drink the tap water, I wanted a container of water in the fridge. I thought about getting a plastic jug, but glass just keeps everything colder. The best thing about these milk bottles is that they cost less than $2 for a half gallon. So I got a gallon of milk and two re-usable glass containers for four bucks. Awesome.

But what about the breakage factor, you ask? In the five years or so that I've been using all Pyrex, all the time, we (and by this I mean A.) have broken only one. If you knew how destructive A. is by nature, you would know that this is a great testament to the durability of Pyrex.

And so ends what may be the most random and boring post of all time. How did I ever get so lame? And also, can you tell I was suffering from writer's block this morning?

11 comments:

  1. Way to look out for the environment! I cringe a little when I think how many ziplock bags I've thrown out in my lifetime.

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  2. You get bonus points for the phrase "Pyrex Christmas". Also, now I want to go and buy a variety pack of Pyrex. So your legacy will live on.

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  3. We bought a variety pack of Pyrex dishes! And I've been wanting to get a laptop lunch system (look it up) for my lunches, but so far I haven't because it's expensive. I always use containers instead of bags, and people think I'm eating cream cheese by the spoonful (just reusing the container, thanks, but I could eat that if I wanted to!).

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  4. Sara, you do know what Jeff Foxworthy said about that, right? As in, what you might be when you have a matching set of salad bowls, and they all say "Cool Whip" on the side? Yeah.

    I'm going to start looking for the glass milk jugs, just because our regular store is switching to the new square jugs, which are really hard to pour from without spilling.

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  5. I wish I could find a place with glass jugs. Hell, I wish I could find a local dairy. Everything's up North by Sonoma and we get stuck with chain grocery stores. My only luxury is farm fresh eggs at the market.

    I wanna live next to a farm! Waaah!

    *Temper tantrum over...

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  6. god, i would break everything in sight. plastic was invented just for me.

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  7. Drew, we DO have a set of Cool Whip salad bowls!

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  8. I've come to hate the plastic juice containers we currently have in the fridge, but I've got the same problem finding the glass - or may be I'm just not looking in the right places. Something else to put on my growing list of stuff to find and buy. Great idea for a New York activity!

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  9. 'Kay, Mom. You come visit and we'll find you some glass bottles. Do I know how to be a good hostess, or what?

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  10. I totally know what you mean about the glass milk containers. We had ours delivered for a while and I totally felt like everything should be in black and white.

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  11. I am addicted to Pyrex. There. I said it. Pyrex bowls, Pyrex measuring cups, Pyrex casserole dishes, Pyrex custard cups. And more. The older the better. I not only collect it, I use it too -- so I can relate and now I want Pyrex "tupperware" too!!

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