There is no denying that plastic has launched us to new places for civilization. And I think it is truly a remarkable material, but that does not mean that it is justified for use in every situation, nor does it mean that its disposibility is a good thing. We have some serious plastic problems, but that's a whole different story.
I really want to talk about one kind of plastic storage container that I love more than any other.
The Ziploc twist-lid tupperwares.
I realize that tupperware is a brand name, but please just go with me on it.
I miraculously inherited these from Maya. Originally, there were 3 small sized ones (pictured here) and 2 large ones (double the height). I started using them because I could fit an entire day worth of food in one of the large ones (4 cups of grains, vegetables and protein). But what really drew me to them was the way that the design solved so many of my fundamental problems with other tupperwares.
One of my biggest tupperware issues is transport of liquid-like food. Fruit, beans, sauces and let's not even start on soup, always leaked out into my backpack from traditional tupperware. The Ziploc containers, however, have a screwtop lid, providing a tighter seal (and an opportunity for me to squeeze them very hard before deciding it was satisfactory). This helps to prevent a lot of the stupid dripping I've experienced in the past. They aren't perfect, and this feature actually makes them relatively difficult to clean (among other cleaning flaws), but it certainly helps. It also helps that the small size is exactly the right size to fit inside Ziploc freezer bags (I do not think this was intentional).
Another big one is the size. I don't exactly eat measured portions, but I like to try to balance how much I eat. Well, these tupperwares are labeled on the side! There are lines that mark out 1 cup and 2 cups (the total volume of the smaller container). That way, I know that I'm eating 1.5 cups of rice, 1 cup of beans and .5 cups of tomatoes. Perfect!
Also, these things are stackable. Despite having easy grip handles (or depressions, more accurately), they fit perfectly inside each other, which helps me store them in my massive tupperware collection.
The downsides are that in the heat, they mold very easily, and when you wash them they have lots of little places to accumulate water, and as a result are constantly spraying your other dry dishes when you put them away.
So what do these tupperware containers say about me? Design must combine the practical and the functional. They solve a basic problem that should be so straightforward for lunch gear (leaking), and address an issue in a very simplistic way that I didn't even know that I wanted to have addressed. Overall, props on a good design to Ziploc. The real question is how much cancer am I getting from microwaving my lunch in them everyday?
