Finally, people are starting to pay attention to the sustainability of their food. Small details like where the food comes from and how it was raised are more important to people than ever.
The thing is, it’s not just food that needs to be sustainable in your kitchen; it’s the products and utensils you use too.
You see, it’s the small changes you make in life that can make the most difference.
By choosing more reusable or biodegradable kitchen items, you can stop unnecessary waste ending up at the landfill.
So, let’s check out some items you can introduce to make your kitchen eco-friendlier:
Eco-Friendly Kitchen Products
You have so many products you can use to reduce the waste you generate in your kitchen. Here’s a few of the best eco-friendly kitchen items:
Bulk Food Bags
It might not seem much at the time, but all the plastic bags you use to hold your bulk food really does add up.
So, to combat this, you can start using bulk bags. These can be used for food items like potatoes, rice, beans, and more.
Using these bags can significantly reduce the amount of waste you’re bringing back from the shop.
Lunch Bags
Ziplock bags and brown paper bags have been used to store people’s lunch for quite some time now. But they were causing great harm to the environment due to the materials not being sustainable.
Reusable lunch bags are made with natural cotton and lined with beeswax, making the bag waterproof and easier to clean.
Because of the beeswax, these bags are not suitable for hot food; unless you want a coating of warm wax on your food.
Canning Jars
Canning jars are a great way of saving some money while reusing a product that would otherwise be chucked away.
There’s plenty of canning recipes online with full instructions on how to can and the benefits it holds. The best thing is, you don’t even have to purchase the jars; you can just recycle the ones you already have.
Bento Box
Bento boxes have become all the rage recently; their stylish design and the ability to separate food has made them very popular.
The boxes’ reusable nature means you can cut down on the number of single-use containers you use.
Reusable Freezer Bags
Cutting down on plastic is one of the easiest ways to make your kitchen eco-friendlier. And that’s where reusable bags come in. Reusable freezer bags are made with either
PEVA or Silicone
These two materials are both food-safe, so you don’t have to fear that microplastic chemicals are getting into your food. You can check out some of the best freezer bags at https://naturecode.org/best/reusable-freezer-bags/.
Reusable Straws
As mentioned before, a plastic-free kitchen is an eco-friendly kitchen. Reusable straws stop you from needing to use plastic straws.
Plastic straws are one of the number 1 plastic trash found on the beaches and inside animals. This is why any small changes you can make in your life is very beneficial.
Reusable straws can be made with silicone, bamboo, steel, and glass. Each one of these materials are more sustainable than plastic.
Reusable K-Cup
You may have already heard about the destruction K-cups are causing, but in case you haven’t, here’s a recap:
K-cups have been causing a lot of damage due to their non-biodegradable nature and the sheer quantity that get sold each year. This is leading to landfills becoming overrun with k-cups.
Reusable K-cups help to stop so much waste from getting to landfills. They’re made with more sustainable materials and can be reused endlessly.
Muffin Molds
If you’re a keen baker, there’s a good chance you’ve got a few muffin cases lying around. But did you know the waxed nature of the paper makes it very hard for it to biodegrade?
Not only that, but the single-use nature doesn’t make them sustainable. Reusable muffin molds are made with silicone, which makes them heat resistant and, more importantly, reusable.
Silicone Baking Mats
This is another item for all the bakers out there. Greaseproof/waxed paper isn’t good for the environment. It involves trees being cut down, and then the paper is treated to become heat resistant.
In doing this, it makes the paper unable to biodegrade. Silicone mats provide a reusable and more sustainable replacement.
Reusable Tea Bags
You might not know this, but not all tea bags are biodegradable. Some tea bags use a glue that’s derived from plastic to seal the bags.
Others are actually made with plastic, and these are causing endless harm to the environment and your body.
Reusable tea bags are made with silicone or stainless steel and can be reused to no end without causing any harm.
Reusable Food Wraps
As you can imagine, plastic wrap isn’t doing any good for the environment. The thing is, until recently, there hasn’t been a suitable replacement.
That was until beeswax wraps hit the market, which are made with 100% natural materials, which means no BPA chemicals.
Reusable Produce Bags
Every time you go shopping, you’re always left with a handful of bags, usually stored in a spare draw and left.
This is something that needs to stop if we want to help the planet recover. Reusable produce bags are made with a meshed material, which helps to replace how many plastic bags you use.
Because the bags are meshed, it helps to keep the food fresh and prevent it from getting sweaty. It also makes it easy for the cashier to identify what’s inside the bag.
Rounding Up
Creating an eco-friendly environment for your kitchen isn’t as hard it seems. You just need to get creative with how you start reducing waste.
The products mentioned above are a great place to start your journey. Increasing the sustainability of your household might seem like a challenging task with little reward…
But this isn’t true; the more people that start signing up for the cause, the more significant the rewards will be.