What is the best substitute packaging for plastic?

It depends on the purpose:

• Substituting a shopping bag - every kind of fabric or a basket can do.
• Glass bottles can be cleaned and re-used.
• At home you can use bee wax cloth (or something similar) to keep things fresh and clean.
• Metal pots or crockery have been used for centuries.

Substituting plastic is one thing where we can look back to the generations before us - what did they use? How can we adapt that to our time?