Alternatives to plastic wrap

I am slowly recovering from my addiction to the use of plastic wrap in the kitchen, although there are still some items I struggle with (e.g. watermelon!) So what's so wrong with plastic wrap (aka cling film, Glad Wrap, Saran Wrap) anyway, I hear you ask?

1. It's a disposable, one-use product that goes straight into landfill. It can't be recycled.

2. Plastic wrap may be made from PVC (polyvinyl chloride), which has the worst environmental problems of all plastics. Dioxins are produced at many stages of it's manufacture and disposal; dioxins are powerful carcinogens. Not all wraps are made from PVC, some such as Glad Wrap are made from polyethylene, which is a more benign plastic than PVC. If you must use plastic wrap though, follow these tips:

* Don't use plastic wrap for covering high fat foods such as meat, cheese, pies and pastries as it contains chemicals that are attracted to the fat.
* Choose a plastic wrap that is made from polyethylene (check the box).
* Don't ever heat plastic wrap in the microwave - always take it off the food product before heating.

It is possible to buy biodegradeable freezer bags and the like, however it is debatable whether these will break down at all in the anaerobic conditions of the average landfill. Even if they do degrade, the conditions mean that they are likely to emit methane - not a desirable outcome!

So what are the alternatives? I've found so far, that acceptible alternatives really depend on the application. Three of the main ones are using a good old reusable rubber band and:

* Baking (greaseproof) paper or waxed paper,
* Aluminium foil or
* Cellophane

Of course I was interested in how they stack up environmentally, so I did some more research.

Baking paper:
Greaseproof paper is generally bleached and coated with chemicals such as Teflon or chrome-containing Quilon (which is what makes it non-stick), which means it can't be recycled - and even it it wasn't coated, most of the time it's contaminated with food so it can't go in the recycling bin. If you throw it in the compost it will also take much longer to break down (and presumably those chemical will go into your compost, and eventually, food). You can buy unbleached paper made from recycled paper (such as SAFE brand), and coated with silicone, which is more expensive, but more benign. It can be reused a couple of times, depending on the soiling.

Waxed paper is slightly different, it is coated with a formaldehyde-based resin. Formaldehyde is a common environmental and health pollutant, and although it's use is very widespread, the factories that manufacture it are a major source of that pollution (as are car exhaust fumes). It can't be recycled and frankly, in light of this research, it's not something I want to put in my compost bin!

Aluminium foil:
Aluminium take a lot of energy and (finite, though currently plentiful) resources to manufacture, so alumiunium foil has a high embedded energy. You can however, reuse foil several times if you take care; you can recycle it provided that it isn't contaminated with food, and you can buy foil that is made from recycled aluminium in the US and UK (I'm not aware of any brands sold in Australia, but hopefully I'm wrong?). It shouldn't be used on high acid foods such as tomatoes , rhubarb, cabbage and many soft fruits, as the aluminium can leach into these items and "taint" it (it tastes bad).

Cellophane:
I was surprised to learn that cellophane is a cellulose-based film (I don't know why I was surprised, probably because I assume everything is plastic these days), so as a result it is getting much more attention for it's use as packaging recently. The cellulose fibres generally come from wood, cotton or hemp, which are dissolved in an alkali to make a substance called viscose, which is extruded into an acid bath to make cellophane. Unfortunately one of the by-products of this process is the production of carbon disulfide, which can cause health problems for the factory workers. Natural cellophane however, is fully biodegradeable and can be therefore composted. Cellophane bags are already easily available, and I have even found resealable cellophane bags: the equivalent of plastic "zip-lock" bags.

So after all that research, I've decided that I'm not going to buy any more baking paper or greaseproof after I have used up the rolls that I currently have. I rarely use aluminium foil but when I do I try to reuse it as many times as I can, and to be honest I can't think of a suitable alternative for stopping the tops of my casseroles burning in my fan-forced oven? I never use it for wrapping food for storage and I won't be starting that any time soon, so that leaves cellophane. On the surface, it seems to be an acceptible alternative to those situations where I can't find something to use instead of cling film (that watermelon again!), and in fact it may be possible to reuse the cellophane bags I have been receiving lately with my organic food deliveries? That would be a win-win situation.