In a world of convenience, sometimes it’s nice to… not be. Every year over one-hundred billion plastic bags are used. That’s over one-hundred-and-sixty-thousand bags every second. Five-hundred billion plastic cups are used. That’s over one million every minute. It’s approximately twelve minutes of use with over one-thousand years of plastic being broken down, only to continue existing in the form of micro-plastics. We can all do a little better.
The kitchen is where we tend to spend a good portion of our time. Whether it’s sitting around the kitchen table and eating a home cooked meal or Chinese take out on a Friday night. There is an unfortunate amount of waste that goes into every aspect of the consumer market. Starting with ourselves, we can help in diminishing this rate of consumer waste.
Here we are going to break down a few ways that you can help in reducing the waste that pollutes our home.
Green Kitchen Must Haves:
Instead of using plastic wrap, single use lunch bags, or aluminum foil, try using something like beeswax wraps. These wraps can be used up until they become too loose to cover food. If they become loose there is an easy trick to fix them! Place your beeswax wrap onto an oven sheet, let them warm up and the beeswax wraps will melt back into place, just like new.
If you don't want to spend money on Beeswax wraps yourself, you can make them yourself by cutting pieces of fabric to your desired shape and size, dipping them into warmed beeswax and setting them out to dry! Easy.
When storing food, try using mason jars and glass food containers. It can be enticing to buy plastic food containers because of their price, convenience, and accessibility. However, these usually don't stay too useful for too long. With Mason Jars or sustainable glass food containers, you can keep reusing these pieces until they are broken. (Afterwards they can be easily recycled. Make sure to clean them first!)
^ If you can’t do the above, just ditch ziplock baggies for reusable baggies. Along the same lines of Beeswax Wraps and Mason Jars, reusable baggies (plastic ones can be used as a starter) will help in cutting down the cost and waste associated with single-use packing items.
It's attractive to walk into a store, grab the closest and cheapest bag of bread and toss it into your cart. But what's more attractive is stopping into your closest bakery with a reusable bread bag and filling that thing full. Whether it's the closest hometown bakeshop or your local Price Chopper, one step with one bread bag is better than no step with no bread bag.
We're lucky nowadays that single use plastic bags have become less and less of an occurrence. However, there are still stores that give them out and label them as environmentally friendly because they can be used three to four times. We can do better than that! Cloth reusable grocery and produce bags are the way to go. They can last as long as you don't loose them on a grocery run and can always be mended if they rip or loose some stitching.
Try investing in a reusable beverage containers. It's almost an aesthetic to go to Starbucks or Dunkin' before work and get whatever flavorful concoction you favor. But, not only is it better for the environment, it's better for your pocket to invest in a reusable beverage container. It can entice you to spend less money on one coffee and spend more time making yourself something delicious at home. Even if this isn't the route you want to take, you can bring your reusable beverage containers to Starbucks or Dunkin', or any small cafe, and get your cup filled.
Paper towels break down in landfills which is great, however in the process they release methane gas a greenhouse gas 23x more potent than carbon dioxide. Paper towels have become more of a seen "necessity" than they should be, especially with Covid starting in March of 2020. In order to help assist in the depletion of "needed" paper towel use, you should keep a box of rags on hand to use for napkins and as a substitute for paper towels.
It's hard to keep things completely environmentally friendly in the kitchen, especially when it comes to the concerns of washing dishes and keeping the house safe and clean. Instead of using liquid dish soap (which is 90% water) opt for a dish soap washing block. This can lead to cleaner dishes, and with biodegradable packaging instead of plastic bottles, you'll be making a great difference in something that is a necessity for the kitchen.
Going along with the above, plastic dish brushes and bristles can be hard on the environment. Opting out on them for a biodegradable dish scrubber can make a big difference for the Earth. There are a lot of options out there, most popular are "Palm Scrubbers" made from palm trees and "Coconut Scour Pads". Items similar to these can even be found at Target!
If you don't wash your dishes by hand, you may be wondering about dishwashing pods. The brand Dropp has become synonymous with environmentally friendly dishwashing products. With biodegradable packaging this leaves nothing to the landfill. A true accomplishment.
Overall Tips For Reducing Waste:
Reduce your overall waste by implementing mindfulness into what you eat and buy. Will you actually eat the things you’re buying? Or are they going to be one of those items that sit in your freezer until they’re freezer burnt and you have to throw them away.
Avoid wasteful packaging. Is the plastic bag full of apples a necessity? Or can you bring a reusable produce bag and buy two or three apples that you know you will eat.
Buy in bulk when you’re able to - Sam's Club, Costco, and BJ's Wholesale are a few good places to get things in bulk.
Until next time... Stay mindful and inconvenient ;)
With love from sunny San Diego,
VIRON
DISCLAIMER: The links presented are apart of the Amazon Associates program. I will receive a portion of the proceeds when you buy a product from my links! This helps to keep our blog running! However, we will NEVER recommend a product we don't believe in.
How to shop eco-friendly on Amazon: When checking out on amazon.com there will be a recyclable "Amazon Frustration Free" packaging option. Click there! Consolidate your purchases. I.E. Do not purchase the items in your cart until you know you're done shopping for the good foreseeable future. Happy shopping!
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