For the longest time I resisted using saran wrap as it seemed wasteful to wrap food in plastic for a day or two only to throw it away. But since I’ve gotten into eating healthier foods my mind has changed. Saran wrap is an excellent material for wrapping off fresh fruits and vegetables to protect them getting dried out or moldy.

Modern saran wrap is polyethelene, which is a string of carbon and hydrogen atoms. It burns completely with just water vapor and carbon dioxide. It is easy to use, it saves food. It’s inexpensive — a $5 or $6 roll can last for a year or longer. I think the roll I bought is at least 10 years old, though I hadn’t been using it regularly until now.

I don’t use it for wrapping lunches or anything besides storing fresh, cut food in the refrigerator for multiple days. Or defrosting meat or fish that I bought in bulk in the refrigerator without getting dried out. It works well for that. And when I’m done, I toss it in the bin with the other burnables, it gets burnt so none of it goes to the landfill. It makes an excellent fire starter, and is a small part of overall trash. It saves food — I’ve spent my hard earned dollars on — from being compost.

In the grand scheme of things, saran wrap is a tiny portion of waste, compared to all the ordinary grocery packaging — which has been greatly reduced since I’ve been eating healthier. There aren’t the plastic milk and apple juice bottles, pasta cans or even as many wrappers hitting my waste basket these days. Instead, most of my waste food is composted, and that is even further reduced by using a little bit of non-toxic plastic. I think it’s great.