W&P Porter Bundle Review: A Charming, Sustainable Alternative To Plasticware

Price – $130

• Porter Bowl
• Porter Seal Tight Bowl (24oz)
• Porter Seal Tight Bowl (16oz)
• Porter Snack Bag (10oz)
• Porter Sandwich Bag (34oz)
• Porter Stand Up Bag (50oz)
• Wide Mouth Water Bottle
• Porter Glass Tumbler

W&P started from humble beginnings with two college roommates, Josh Williams and Eric Prum, who loved to cook, mix drinks, and entertain. In this vein, they set off to create modern kitchen products to share that passion with everyone.

Like most millennials, I use a variety of storage product options that I have slowly acquired through my adult life. In my prized collection include some Tupperware brand containers, a glass set with silicon seals from Target, and a bunch of cheap plastic ones that I have been too lazy to replace. As I enter my late 20s, I am very keen to own exclusively quality products.

Enter W&P

Appearance and Style

Before I get into critiquing each individual item, let’s talk about the style and design as a whole.

I chose the charcoal color option, which suits me perfectly. Although, I don’t think there are any bad colors. You can choose between cream, mint, blush, slate, or charcoal. It should be noted that they all have this pastel style to their color so if you’re looking for something dark and vibrant, these may not be your favorite.

I personally love how they match my sense of style. They give off a modern, trendy vibe. They certainly don’t look or feel cheap.

Nearly every time I’ve taken one or more of these porter products out of the house people notice and ask me where I got them. So these live up to the chic and aesthetically superior reputation W&P’s has built up.

With the exception of the porter bowl, all of the products blend clear material with the 100% LFGB-certified silicone for a very nice balance of color. That also means you can easily see what’s inside.

Bowls

I love these sealed-tight glass bowls. My first impression was that they hold more than I originally thought.

Some of my go-to meals to travel to work with are oatmeal and soup. These bowls fit those uses perfectly. Because they are microwave-safe I am able to make, travel, and eat my morning oatmeal all in the same container. That is new for me and I am here for it. The same goes for the soup.

There are traveling containers with better insulation, but none I’ve used are microwave-safe.

Finally, the porter bowl offers a lovely strap for extra assurance on seal of the lid. This allows me to feel safe putting it vertically in my backpack. I ended up storing salads and noodles during my tests and it worked superbly. I haven’t had a bowl quite like it before, and I find it a unique option that I recommend everyone try.

Drinkware

This bundle comes with the Wide Mouth Porter Water Bottle and the Porter Glass.

The water bottle features a 16oz capacity, silicon jacket for style and some insulation, and a wide mouth for easy sipping and cleaning. It performs as you’d expect but it doesn’t hold very much and it doesn’t insulate well enough for hot beverages.

While I like the aesthetic very much, I am very accustomed to my 40oz insulated knock-off hydro flask so I could never see this being my go-to water bottle. The glass material also makes me very weary from thinking it would even survive as my go-to water bottle. Especially after examining how many dents my metal one has…

I’ve used it for ice tea or other cold beverages. It’s a fun option to have.

The Porter Glass is a 15oz wine tumbler that features a sliding lid and a wide base. I’ve loved the design of these types of tumblers since they became popular a few years ago. We would put cocktails and wine in them for the pool. While I love the style this one has, the glass makes me weary to bring around the pool.

It is neat to see the contents of the drink at the top, but that feature basically goes away after the first few sips as the silicon covers the majority of the tumbler. I’m drinking warm cider in this picture. The Borosilicate glass makes it safe to have hot liquids in it, but the lack of insulation makes actual hot beverages uncomfortable to hold.

In general, both pieces of drinkware are stylish and well-made. They just has some limitations regarding the material being glass.

I could see myself buying or recommending the Porter Glass because I can’t ever have enough of this kind of tumbler. Though, instead of the water bottle, I’d rather try the Porter Insulated Bottle for coffee and tea.

Porter Bags

The bundle comes with three different sizes of bag – 10oz, 34oz, and 50oz. They are each made from 100% LFGB certified silicone. One side is clear while the other is the color option you chose.

The 10oz bag is meant for little snacks, and little snacks I did enjoy. From blueberries to wheat thins, it is a nice little portion for traveling around with. I once put a small amount of rice leftover from meal. It was out curiosity and desperation because I didn’t have a good size container for such a small amount. Days later and that rice is fresher and moister than I’ve ever experienced with regular plastic containers.

The 34oz bag is like a sandwich bag. Because of the material, I feel really comfortable using it for all kinds of foods. But yeah, it’s great at being a sandwich bag. 34oz is a good size. I just want more of them.

The 50 oz bag stands up and is probably the most versatile of set. At first, I wasn’t sure what the heck I’d use it for. But once I opened my mind about it being more than just a ziplock alternative, the possibilities seemed endless. I used it to store a bunch of fruit for a hike, for cereal, and even for pizza leftovers. It’s a useful bag!

The one drawback I’d say about these bags is that they never quite seem to feel clean. The smoothness of the silicon makes any particle that sticks to it stand out tremendously and it’s just something I had to get over.

Seal and storage

The seal on these products is phenomenal. I tested each one by filling with water, holding a white paper towel at their tops, and shaking them. First I would slowly tip upside down and then I would begin shaking to see if any water showed on the towel. Every piece in this set performed amazingly. I was most surprised by the bags, because they are so easy to open yet have a perfect seal.

The only product that didn’t seal very well was the Porter Glass. No matter how many times I tried with different amounts of water, it would always leak at the mouth of the sliding lid just by tipping slowly upside-down. Keep in mind, nowhere does W&P claim that it should be leak-proof nor does any other wine tumbler that I own. It would have really impressed me if it did.

Durability

Unfortunately, the biggest limitation of the design in the products is that they are made of glass. While they do have a layer of silicon on the outside, it’s not going to save the glass container from shattering if dropped from any significant height. We know because we tested it. At just a height of 18” we slowly rolled an empty sealed-tight bowl off of a chair and onto tiled surface and it shattered.

It should be noted that the bowl hit the middle section where the glass meets the silicon layer rather than the pure silicon spots. However, it’s fair to say these aren’t going to be safe from a fall off a countertop or table regardless of where it hits.

So I wouldn’t trust this to be in a bag or backpack that I knew could see some abuse. If you’re in and out of public transit or around a lot of kids, maybe you would want something that could withstand falls or heavy bumps.

As for the silicon bags, I expect these to hold up for some time. They are obviously more durable than thin plastic ziplock bags. More than that, though they are thick and can be used for anything that isn’t sharp.

W&P states that it is their mission to innovate the food and beverage industry while making products that help customers live more sustainably.

Let’s take a look at some basic features W&P porter products have to offer.

• Dishwasher safe
• Microwave safe
• Freezer safe
• BPA Free
• Cal Prop 65 compliant
• FDA compliant
• Borosilicate glass
• LFGB-certified Silicone

There’s three basic materials used in these products: plastic, glass, and silicon. The plastic is BPA free, which is a widely-respected designation that means it does not contain harmful chemical that was previously ubiquitous with plastics. The glass is borosilicate glass which effectively means two things: it can handle extreme temperatures and has higher durability. We mentioned earlier the durability does not change the fact that it is glass and cannot survive falls onto hard surfaces.

Finally, the silicon used in or on most of these products is certified LFGB. To get this certification requires some of the most rigid food safety tests available. Most silicon used in food or beverage products is merely FDA certified. While both are declared food safe, LFGB is regarded as a much better quality in terms of durability and impact on food it comes into contact with.

So it’s clear that W&P choose the higher quality option wherever they had the choice. These are obviously great for the consumer in terms of health and peace of mind. However, these options do not say anything about the sustainability or ethicality of their manufacturing process.

The company states that the products are responsibly made in China. We would prefer if there was a little more transparency to back up that statement, but that is all their website has to offer at the moment.

Whether W&P porter products are worth it to you depends on a few things. The price tag makes it hard to say these are an absolute steal, but their aesthetic, quality, and performance makes it feel justified.

W&P products are always worth to check if they’re on sale. During our observation period they have been active in every expected holiday sale. At the time of this review, they have a 20% off sitewide offer through the Christmas season.

They always offer free-shipping on orders of $50.

Finally, their bundles are a great way to save on larger orders. For the fridge bundle, you save over 20% compared to buying individually.

The only question left to answer is, “would I buy again?”

Honestly, I’d buy many of these products again. This specific bundle was a great sampler of what W&P have to offer. I can’t say the selection of products in this bundle itself is right for everyone.

I definitely encourage people to check out the individual products and the other bundles and see which ones could be right for them.

Personally, I couldn’t get enough of the porter bowl or the bags. I will be looking to fill out my pantry with more of those.