Make Your Kitchen More Eco-Friendly
The long love affair with plastic finally put to an end and the move towards more sustainable and eco-friendly products is happening. If you take a good look around your home and consider how eco-friendly everything is, you’ll realize the sheer number of plastic products and items that will eventually just end up in the landfill that you use every day.
The kitchen is a hotspot for throw-aways and unsustainable items; from paper towels and plastic wrappers to cleaning sponges and washing detergent. Luckily, there are sustainable alternatives to a lot of these not-so-eco-friendly products that you have got so use to using, and here are six ways that you can make your kitchen more eco-friendly.
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1. Reusable Items
Reuse is one of the key words for those living an eco-friendly lifestyle. Reusable products cut the amount of waste being thrown away, meaning there is less in the landfill. Instead of buying single-use cloths and sponges for cleaning, buy those that you can just throw into the washing machine and use again and again and again. When storing leftover food, use containers and bags that can wash of throw away cling film and kitchen foil. Beeswax wraps are becoming a popular alternative, but any container that you can use over and over again will do just fine.
2. Compostable and Biodegradable
Products that are made from natural materials will eventually just decay and disappear, unlike plastic, which can stick around for thousands and thousands of years polluting land and sea. There are many products that have compostable or biodegradable alternatives. Swap your plastic bin bags for those that are biodegradable, buy sponges that you can throw on the compost heap, and switch out those plastic coffee capsules for alternatives from Glorybrew that are 100% compostable.
3. Cleaning Refills
Picture the number of cleaning products you have in your kitchen. Now think about how many of them are plastic. Pretty much all of them, right? And when they run out, what happens to them? They either go in the bin and to the landfill or may head off to recycle. While recycling is great, it still uses energy and creates waste. Refilling your cleaning products tops recycling in eco-friendliness. You can now buy capsules of cleaner, add water, and top up your sprays. You can even find shops where you can take all your empties and get them refill. Sprays, laundry detergent, fabric softener, washing up liquid, you name it. You’ve just got to find your nearest refill store!
4. Plastic Free Groceries
One of the main culprits for creating plastic waste is supermarket giants. A lot of fruit and vegetables have their own protective layer and really do not need that unsustainable plastic. Next time you are shopping for groceries, be mindful of the products that you buy and how they are packaged. If possible, take your own reusable grocery bags so you can choose to buy loose produce instead of those packaged in unnecessary plastic. Try picking items that package using glass or cardboard instead of plastic so you can recycle, refill, or reuse them.
5. Non-plastic Products
If you take a close look at all your kitchen utensils, you’ll probably find that most of them of plastic. While they are usually long-lasting, once they do break or are thrown away, they will end up in the landfill and remain on the planet for millions of years to come. When it’s time to replace your kitchen utensils, opt for a more eco-friendly alternative. Bamboo and other wood products and just as durable and will not pollute the planet like plastic.
Sustainable products are making their way into the limelight. If you’re looking to become more eco-friendly in the kitchen, this is a great place to start.
