If you are really into environmental food storage, take a look at dehydrated foods, stored in a recycled jar.
I am starting to learn which foods work better than others dehydrated, and removing them from my freezer saves energy and reduced the size of freezer I need. Tomatoes, blueberries, apples, shredded chicken, etc. are a few items that are just as good (if different) from frozen.
Alternatives to ziplock bags are the freezer bags with the twist tie type. They are amazingly roomy, great in the freezer, low cost, and somewhat easy to put a vacuum on. (with my thrift store vacuseal).