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Stasher Bags Are My Travel Hack for Staying Organized—And Using Less Plastic

The brand's reusable bags are great for the environment, and for organizing all your snacks, toiletries, and cords on every type of trip.
reusable bags fruit
Stasher

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Around four years ago, I realized my relationship with single-use plastics was getting out of hand. As an admitted maximalist, I have a lot of things. When I travel, that means lugging around my (multiple) face creams, a wide variety of baked goods, and with the addition of my daughter as a travel companion, plenty of wipes, small trinkets, and cereal. All of these “necessary” items were being stuffed inside plastic bags, which I sometimes doubled up if I feared a spill. After one notably long trip, I looked at the carnage of my suitcase—there must have been a dozen plastic bags of different sizes—and was, in a word, repulsed. I resolved to find a more sustainable solution (and, if I’m being honest, ideally one that was more aesthetically pleasing, too).

After researching many different options and container styles, I came across Stasher, a line of reusable silicone bags that was created by mom-of-three Kat Nouri in 2016. The brand's bags come in a rainbow of chic hues (even tie-dye!) and multiple sizes: from the adorable pocket to the super-sized half-gallon. Each one is made from food-grade platinum silicone, and is free from scary stuff like BPA, BPS, lead, latex, and phthalates.

And while, ostensibly, these are made for food (they can go from the freezer to the microwave to the dishwasher with ease), they’ve also become my favorite travel bags. The mini-pocket size? Perfect for a pair of headphones—or a small amount of chocolate to bribe my daughter to behave in the security line. I always keep an empty sandwich-size bag in my purse; it’s ideal for when I want to save the rest of my half-eaten scone or croissant for later. The half-gallons are my go-to for storing medications or full-size bottles of sunscreen in my suitcase. And because all of the Stasher bags have a super secure seal, I never worry about my various ointments and creams exploding in my luggage.

Aside from keeping my prodigious amount of travel stuff color-coded, clean, and organized, these bags are also, of course, much better for the planet. “Just one Stasher bag can eliminate around 260 single-use plastic bags from entering our oceans and landfills every year,” says Hilary McGuigan, Stasher’s vice president of marketing. “To date, the Stasher community has prevented more than one billion single-use plastic bags from ending up in our waste stream.”

And if you need still another reason to make the switch: the brand recently launched a new style of reusable silicone bowls. These are not only ideal for packing lunches for my family to take on the plane, but with their flat bottoms, they’re also perfect as toiletry or makeup bags, as they’ll stand up on a bathroom counter. My luggage may not be getting lighter any time soon, but at least I know my gear is that much more eco-friendly thanks to these Stasher bags. This maximalist will call that a win.

Reusable silicone sandwich bag
Reusable silicone half gallon bag
Reusable silicone bowl
Reusable silicone pocket bag