The kitchen is an essential part of my life. My husband and I chat in the kitchen, cook in the kitchen, dance in the kitchen, play air guitar in the kitchen…it’s pretty much the nexus to our household universe. So it became evident very quickly that on our journey to a zero waste lifestyle it would be necessary to transition to having a zero waste kitchen.
Here are four easy things you can do to move towards a zero waste kitchen.
Eliminate paper towels and other single-use items from your kitchen
Those single use items are easily replaceable with more sustainable options.
- Replace the paper towels that you use for cleaning with reusable rags. You can cut up old t-shirts or head over to the thrift store for a cheap bed sheet that you can cut into pieces.
- Replace paper napkins with reusable cloth napkins. I purchased homemade napkins on Etsy or you can make your own.
- Use Bees Wrap instead of plastic/cling wrap. Bees Wrap is washable, reusable, and made in the USA. Wrap a sandwich, cheese, produce, and cover a bowl with it. Use the warmth of your hands to form Bee’s Wrap over the top of a bowl, half a lemon, or a piece of cheese. The wrap will hold its shape when it cools, creating a seal. I absolutely love this product and no longer use single use plastic!
- If tinfoil has any oil or food particles on it then it cannot be recycled. Instead of using tin foil, go without. This might sound weird, but I bet if you skip the tin foil next time you roast veggies in the oven, you will realize that you didn’t really need it. If you do want to try to replace it, I’ve heard that these reusable silicon baking matts from Artisan Metal Works are a good choice, though I haven’t tried them myself.
Implement a composting system
When you throw food scraps into your trashcan, they eventually make their way to a landfill. In a landfill, rotting food off-gases methane, a highly combustible gas that is a major contributor to climate change. If you turn your food scraps into compost instead, you will have rich wonderful soil at your fingertips!
- Implement a composting system in your home. Place a bin in your kitchen for easy collection of all food scraps with the exception of meat and dairy products, which should be disposed of separately. We use an old 5-gallon ice cream tub to collect our food scraps.
- If you have the space for an outdoor compost bin, simply take your “kitchen compost bin” to the larger one outside that you maintain.
- If you don’t have your own outdoor bin, find someone in your community who wants your kitchen scraps – people who garden love compost and will gladly take your food scraps off of your hands!
- If you don’t have a lot of outdoor space you can also start a worm bin. This is a great option and believe it or not is odorless! I had a co-worker who kept a mini-worm bin in the drawer in her desk. Such a great option for someone with limited space but who wants to do something.
Store your food properly to prevent food waste.
In the USA, organic food waste is the second highest component of landfills, which are the largest source of methane emissions. And in the USA, 30-40% of the food supply is wasted, equaling more than 20 pounds of food per person per month (source: United State Committee for FAO)
- For greens like fresh herbs, kale, celery, lettuces, etc. store upright in a jar or bowl with enough water for your greens to “drink”. Think of this group of food like a bouquet of flowers – they will stay fresher longer if they have water to drink.
- Certain foods, like broccoli, berries, and mushrooms, should not be washed until they are about to be used.
- Tomatoes, apples, bananas, potatoes, and squash, are examples of fruits and vegetables that should be stored at room temperature on your counter top. Putting these items in the refrigerator will cause the food to rot or acquire an undesirable taste.
- Before you set out to do your grocery shopping, assess the perishable foods you already have at home. Is there a head of lettuce you forgot about hiding behind the milk? Make sure you’ve used up what you already have before buying more.
- Meal plan. Planning out your meals ahead of time prevents impulse buying at the grocery store as well as over-buying. I like to use the app, Google Keep, which allows you to share grocery lists with others.
Use environmentally-friendly kitchen cleaners
Grab a bottle of your local household cleaner and read the ingredients list. Do you recognize everything on that list? Most likely not. Think about cleaning from an environmental perspective. If you use toxic chemicals to clean your toilet bowl, those toxins end up in the waterway, causing damage to aquatic life. And that bleach bottle? It ends up in the landfill after 7-10 uses because plastic can only be down-cycled.
- Look up your household cleaners on the Environmental Working Group’s guide to healthy cleaning. What score have your household cleaners received? Check out their “top cleaning products” for the best of the best.
- Experiment with making your own! Pinterest has many ideas, though I haven’t tried any myself yet (I hope to within the next few weeks!).
- Look in the bulk section at your local co-op to eliminate the waste associated with the packaging of cleaning products. At my local co-op they sell liquid hand soap and laundry detergent in bulk, so I can bring my own containers and re-fill them.
By implementing these ideas, you will work towards a zero waste kitchen. My husband and I have been implementing these ideas since February and we have downsized our trashcan from a thirteen gallon to a three gallon. Good luck!