Earth Day Thoughts - Minimizing Waste and Plastic Use with a Vacuum Sealing System

Happy Earth Day! Did you know that the first Earth Day was held on April 22nd in 1970? In honor of the holiday, here at Avid Armor we wanted to share some tips to help you minimize waste and plastic use using an Avid Armor Vacuum Sealing System.

Using a vacuum sealing system is a great way to reduce waste and preserve your food. Annually, a vacuum sealer can eliminate thousands of dollars of food waste for each average American household, and helps prevent food waste ending up in landfills, especially if you choose to recycle your vacuum sealer bags after you’ve used them.

Buy in Bulk or Grow Your Own Food

Buying your food in bulk, growing your own food, or hunting and eating wild game are fantastic ways to save money but in order to reduce food waste, it is important that you vacuum seal any bulk or left over foods that you won’t eat right away. Vacuum sealing your food, helps it last up to 5x longer than traditional storage methods, so it will help your food last longer and stay fresh, year round!

If you want to up the eco-friendly factor even more, but don’t want to or have the time to grow your own food, try purchasing all of your fresh produce from local farms, this could be a great excuse to check out your local farmer’s market. Stock up on all the foods you love, and vacuum seal them to keep them fresh and tasty all year round.

Use a Chamber Vacuum Sealer

Because the technology used in a Chamber Vacuum Sealer is different from the technology used in suction vacuum sealers, chamber sealers use a different type of bag that uses less plastic to make. These bags are also less expensive than embossed bags used with suction vacuum sealers. Because the bags are made with less plastic, they are also less rigid, making them easier to clean and re-use.

In the long run, chamber vacuum sealers are more expensive than suction vacuum sealers, but they allow you to save money on the cost of chamber pouches.

Freeze and Cook in the Same Sealer Bags

Avid Armor vacuum sealer bags are microwave safe, sous vide safe, boil safe and freezer safe, so they are perfect for helping you meal prep! Save plastic by cooking your food in the same bag that you freeze it in. Season your food as you bag it up and seal it, toss it in the freezer and it is ready to cook from there! No thawing is required to cook it, just throw it in a sous vide bath, microwave, or try boiling it. There you go: you've re-used the storage bag for cooking.

This works for most meats and fish, including chicken, ribs, roasts, leg of lamb, salmon, and all other meats you cook sous vide. Yes, you're still using plastic, but you made those bags do double duty, effectively halving the amount of plastic you used.

Use Vacuum Sealer Containers and Accessories When Possible

A great way to cut down on your plastic usage while using a vacuum sealing system is to use vacuum sealer containers and other accessories. These accessories are meant to be cleaned after each use and then reused again and again. Using reusable containers can greatly cut down on the amount of vacuum sealer bags that you utilize.

With this method, all you need is the sealer accessory of your choice, a vacuum sealer with an accessory port, and an accessory hose. By using the accessory hose to connect the container and the vacuum seal you can pump all of the air out of the container, using the vacuum sealer. This still guarantees you the same airtight seal every time, without using the extra plastic you would with a vacuum sealer bag

Create Custom Bag Sizes Using Vacuum Sealer Rolls

One of the reasons that we here at Avid Armor love using vacuum sealer rolls is because they allow you to tailor the bag’s length to the size of the items you’re trying to seal. This is a great way to cut down on the amount of plastic that you use per an item that you seal, and it allows you to save money, by making your bags last longer.

Reuse Bags When Possible

Even if you are using vacuum sealer rolls, we recommend that you try to reuse your vacuum bags when possible! We know that you’re not always able to reuse vacuum sealer bags, especially if you’ve used the bag to store raw meat, or any other messy food item. But, if you wish to re-use your vacuum sealer bag to save money, or reduce your plastic use then it is easy to clean and re-use your vacuum sealer bags. If you are careful about how you open, and clean your bags you can get at least 3 or more uses out of each vacuum sealer bag.

When you open a sealed vacuum bag, be sure to cut the bag open as close to the seal as possible. As you reuse the bags, they will get smaller each time you open them, so you may want to use a large bag to start with.

After you have used your vacuum sealer bag, make sure to wash it thoroughly with hot water and dish soap before each time you reuse it. Once you have washed the bag out, make sure to prop it open to dry, we even recommend placing it over a glass so the bag will stay open.

Recycle Your Used Food Storage Bags

Did you know that all Avid Armor vacuum sealer bags and rolls are recyclable? I know, it’s exciting, right! Before you try to recycle your vacuum bags, make sure to rinse them out thoroughly so that there is no food residue left in the bag, and we recommend asking your waste management company if they will take the vacuum sealer bags. If they won’t then you still have the option of bringing them to your local grocery store, you know how they have a big bin where you can return their plastic shopping bags, well you can also recycle your plastic vacuum storage bags there as well!