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With two roommates who cook three meals a day in quarantine, our refrigerator is stuffed to the gills with food in single-use plastics and tattered plastic reusables. This past year, we’ve tossed more deformed and stained plastic containers into the Molten Tupperware Graveyard.
Every time I toss plastic in the trash can, a small pang of guilt hits me. I make a mental note to pick up some reusables next time, but a lot of the products on the market are too cutesy — I’m entirely too grown to own silicone zip bags with sea creatures on them — or poor quality.
Thankfully, founders Josh Williams and Eric Prum started W&P to solve that very problem. W&P offers impeccably-designed food storage containers made from food-grade glass, stainless steel and silicone to eliminate single-use plastic waste altogether. They create mugs, water bottles, utensils, bowls, even cocktail mixing supplies with the intention of making a positive impact on the world. Plus, their sleek and functional designs make it easy to flex your sustainable choices.
Bagged Me A Good One
On a mission to save fridge space and improve my environmental impact, I put W&P’s Starter Pack of Porter Bags to the test. The set includes three flat Porter Bags (10oz, 34oz and 46oz) and two Standup Bags (36.oz and 50oz) with a clear front (so that you can see what’s in the bag) and a chic colored panel at the back that makes me genuinely excited to eat a snack. I chose the pink color — definitely far away from cutesy sea creatures offered at big box stores — and I absolutely love the way they look.
Upon opening the package, I sniffed the inside of the bags. Weird, I know, but some silicone containers have a weird, off-putting chemical-y smell. I’m happy to report that these bags smell just fine. Unlike the cheap silicone zip bags that sometimes use plastic components, high-quality Porter Bags are made entirely of silicone, without any harmful chemicals or adhesives, plus they are California Prop 65 compliant, which means they’re free of chemicals that may cause cancer or birth defects.
Additionally, most low-quality silicone zip bags that I’ve seen on the market have a really flimsy press closure that stop working properly after many washes. Nothing grinds my gears like cleaning up spills from a cheap silicone bag past its prime. I was impressed to see W&P’s hefty, leak-proof closure for extra reassurance that these durable bags are going to last.
After a quick hand wash, I laid them out on the counter next to my meal prep supplies and put them to the test.
No More Freezer Burn Mysteries
First up: smoothie prep. I love making a big batch of smoothies and keeping them in mason jars to drink the next day. My biggest pet peeve is opening the freezer to half-filled bags of mystery items that may or may not have freezer burn. Typically, I use large heavy-duty plastic ziploc bags to prep my frozen fruit and greens. This time, I used both Standup Bags to store a big batch of frozen bananas and pre-measured smoothie ingredients.
The Standup Bags were perfect for smoothie prep because they took up less space in the freezer and I could easily see what I was grabbing. Gone are the days that random scrunched up bags of frozen fruit litter my freezer. The bags’ hefty seal also kept the fruit from getting freezer burn. My organizational spidey senses were tingling so hard that I almost forgot — I’m also saving tons of disposables from hitting the trash can right now!
The Best Meal Prep Wingman
As much as I love the convenience of meal prep kits, I hate all the single-use plastic waste that they create. I’m one of the lucky people that have been able to embrace meal-prepping and kitchen time during the quarantine, and W&P only enhanced my love for cooking.
Next, I started prepping some tofu to marinade for a vegetarian Thai pad see ew, a rice noodle dish with Chinese broccoli, a sticky brown savory-sweet sauce, and tofu. The tofu marinade is made of dark soy sauce, brown sugar, oyster sauce (which is super dark and sticky) and chili powder. I was concerned that the dark sauces would be really difficult to get out later or that I’d have to hand-wash the bag in the places the dishwasher can’t reach.
A few hours later, after whipping up a banger of a dish with perfectly marinated tofu, the clean-up process for the bag looked promising. First, I squeezed two drops of dish soap inside of the bag and filled it with warm water. I sealed the bag and shook it. To my surprise, almost all of the marinade was completely gone from that quick wash. I didn’t even have to put it in the dishwasher!
If I did want to throw the Porter Bags in the dishwasher, all I needed to do was flip the bag inside out and stick it in the dishwasher. Since the flat Porter bags have rounded corners, there aren’t any edges where old food can get stuck. Bonus points for fellow foodies: The Porter Bag’s food-grade silicone can even work in a sous-vide application. Fire up that sous vide machine (or create your own, if you’re crafty) and get ready to cook up some precision-temp meats and veggies.
Make Snacks Great Again
While the Porter Bag has many versatile uses, its number one purpose is to replace the single-uze zip bag as the go-to for travel-friendly snacks. I’m not doing much traveling these days, but I do love my snacks. In the two smaller zip bags, I stored carrot sticks to dip in hummus and apple slices to eat later. Since the Porter Bags have an insanely tight seal, both stayed crunchy and delicious throughout the day.
Because these bags are so cute, they made me want to snack on healthy colorful foods purely for the aesthetics. I mean, chips are great and everything, but it looks so cute to have apple slices stored in a cute pink container for later. I’m mentally adding blueberries and grapes to my next shopping list just to create aesthetic pairings with these beautiful snack bags.
Final Thoughts
Whether you’re firing up your sous vide machine, elevating your smoothie game or looking for a great way to store your snacks, W&P knocked it out of the park with these perfectly designed Porter Bags. The clear/color-blocked design makes you want to open your fridge more and keep a snack on your desk for aesthetics. The zip seal is sturdier than other offerings on the market, plus the bags are super easy to clean. Overall, W&P’s Porter Bags are a great addition to any kitchen cupboard.
5 More Reasons To Love W&P:
- The Porter Bags are microwave safe, freezer safe, dishwasher safe, BPA free, and you can use them to sous-vide meats and veggies.
- The Porter Bags are made from 100% food-grade silicone without any chemicals, glues or adhesives. They are FDA-approved and Cal Prop 65 compliant, which means they are free of harmful chemicals that may cause cancer or birth defects.
- The average family uses up to 500 disposable plastic containers per year, so switching to the Porter Bags can make a significant difference in your environmental impact.
- W&P’s Porter Line offers a wide range of high-quality, stylish products — like The Porter Bowl and The Porter Mug — that make sustainability in food storage super easy.
- W&P uses responsible manufacturing practices throughout their supply chain, and often partners with mission-driven brands on collaborations -- striving towards sustainability from start to finish.
