Sandwich Bag Alternatives

I somewhat joked about it in a recent blog post, but I'm most definitely becoming one of "them."  I actively look for ways to avoid flagrant waste.  I use cloth towels and napkins instead of disposable paper towels or napkins.  I use a Diva Cup and cloth menstrual pads instead of disposable tampons or disposable paper & plastic menstrual pads.  And, yes, I've considered using family cloth for pee-pee instead of using toilet paper. . .of course, I haven't embarked on such an experiment or else you'd know it by now!

I choose to use reusable products over disposable nearly every single time that I have a choice.  I also tend to wonder if I can repurpose an item or use the last little bit of product prior to throwing it away.  For example, my son's old & worn out washcloths make pretty good dust rags or add a little water to "empty" ketchup or salsa containers and add the mix to red pasta sauce or chili.

At the moment, I'm looking at plastic sandwich bag alternatives.  I love those little Ziploc bags and I use them so often that I purchase them in mass quantities at Costco or Sam's Club.  I've been using plastic containers in our lunches as much as possible, but I wonder if there are non-plastic alternatives that I should know about.

I acknowledge that it will be hard to break my addiction to Ziploc bags.  I personally threw away three paper napkins each day prior to my switch over to cloth napkins.  I tossed out at least one box of tampons every 20 days or so prior to my Diva Cup and mama cloth conversion, to say nothing about the liners I threw in the garbage.  I shudder to think about how many Ziploc bags I end up 86ing in a given week. 

Do my thrown away Ziploc bags make a difference?  No, probably not.  Does recycling those plastic bags really matter?  No, not really.  But I still don't feel that my effort is fruitless.  My thought processes or my decisions might impact others to consider how much they waste.  I might be the spark that makes a flame of difference in terms of resources.

I haven't been all that concerned with Ziploc bags since I have a ton left from my last trip to Costco, but I know that I will view my Ziploc usage with a hard eye at some point and I'm looking for feedback.  Do you use non-plastic alternatives to tote your lunches and snacks?  If so, what are the pros and cons?  And please share your favorite vendors!