Switching to a zero-waste lifestyle can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be! Making small changes overtime, and creating eco-friendly habits, can ensure to a successful transition to a zero waste lifestyle. There are many ways to create a zero waste kitchen, below are nine easy ways to start!
Transforming Your Kitchen Into an Eco-friendly and Zero Waste Space
Slow and consistent changes can make all the difference when creating sustainable and eco-friendly habits. Be kind to yourself as you start this transition. Remember that every step creates less waste and a healthier home.
Compost
Composting is an easy step to re-using scraps that would normally end up in the landfill. There are many ways to build a compost pile, however, all compost piles work the same way. Compost should be a mixture of green matter and brown matter. The kitchen scraps and indoor items below can be added to the compost bin.
Green matter includes: fruits and vegetables, coffee grounds, tea bags and egg shells. DO NOT INCLUDE: meat, cheese, oils or bread.
Brown matter includes: cardboard or shredded paper. DO NOT INCLUDE: animal waste.
Countertop compost bins can be ordered online. They are a great option for those living in small spaces, or as a place to put your compost before adding it to a larger compost bin outside.
Buy In Bulk
There are many benefits to buying in bulk. Buying in bulk reduces the waste of individual packaging. You end up with less plastic and throwing less trash away.
Because there is less packaging, the price is much lower per weight of the food item. Although it may seem more expensive when purchasing, you’ll find that fewer trips to store mean no impulse buying of things that aren’t necessary. The upfront cost of buying bulk is worth the investment. You can buy in bulk from local farmers, or shop at bulk stores like Costco and Sam’s Club.
Wooden Utensils
Wooden utensils are a great way to be more sustainable. Most of these are made out of bamboo or teak wood which is naturally antibacterial and antimicrobial. Bamboo is also a sustainably sourced product. Wooden utensils don’t scratch dishes and, if taken care of properly, can be used for years.
If you are looking for a tutorial for caring for your utensils, Rocky Hedge Farm has a great guide to help you keep those utensils lasting a long time.
Throw Out The Teflon
Teflon is a substance that coats pans in order to make them non-stick. The problem with Teflon is that after a few years it begins to flake off of the pan and little pieces fall into your food. This substance is toxic, and they should be replaced immediately.
Teflon is not something that should end up in landfills. Instead of buying a new Teflon pan, consider switching to a cast iron pan. Cast iron can last forever, and once you get the hang of it, is pretty easy to clean and care for. You can find them at thrift stores, but you can also buy them new.
Related: Why You Should Make The Switch to Cast Iron
Use Cloth Instead of Paper Towels
Paper towels are an easy go-to in the kitchen. It’s a simple fix, however, to use washcloths or cheap tea towels instead of using paper towels. Not only will this save you money of paper towels, but using cloth will keep all of that paper out of the trash.
I buy washcloths in bulk and have them tucked away in a cabinet drawer in my kitchen. This leaves more counterspace and looks nicer than having paper towels laying out too. There are many tutorials about how you can switch to homemade paper towels, but I find them unnecessary. It’s easy to buy a bunch of washcloths and use those in your kitchen to clean up messes.
Make Your Own Cleaning Products
Store bought cleaning products are full of harmful chemicals. Making your own products allows you to save money, and provide a healthier home for your family. Most of my cleaning products use vinegar as a base. Vinegar is non-toxic, budget friendly and does a great job disinfecting!
Some things cannot be cleaned with vinegar (think hardwood floors and granite countertops). However, there are other homemade cleaners for those too! Check out these 5 homemade household cleaners that I use to get my home spotless, without using harsh chemicals.
Related: Homemade Granite Cleaner
Buy and Use Reusable bags
Plastic bags create such a large amount of waste. Although they can be used for other things, unless you need plastic bags for something, it’s always helpful to have reusable bags on hand. The most important thing to remember though, is that you need to buy reusable bags that are sustainably sourced.
Using reusable bags for shopping and produce at home can cut down on waste. Be sure to wash your reusable bags because they can carry bacteria, like e-coli, from old food particles stuck inside the bags.
Meal Plan to Reduce Waste
Meal planning is a life saver for so many reasons. To help create a zero-waste kitchen, meal planning cuts down on food waste. When you are buying in bulk, and planning out what you will eat, each food item has a purpose.
Although food waste is inevitable, meal planning prevents a lot of it, keeping costs down for you, and waste down as well. This helps create a cleaner and healthier kitchen. The other benefit is that you don’t have to worry about what you’re going to eat everyday!
Recycle As a Last Resort
Believe it or not, recycling isn’t as helpful as we thought! Many of the things we throw into the recycle actually end up in the landfill. Although I will always encourage recycling (and I recycle as much as I can), keeping things out of the trash and the recycle bin in the first place, makes more of a sustainable impact. It all starts at the store. Reducing consumption and re-using what we already have will go a longer way than recycling.
There are many other ways to build a sustainable kitchen. However, these nine steps can get you started in the right direction. Slowly introduce on change at a time and make it habit. Soon you’ll be living in a zero waste kitchen and all these changes will be habits!
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Gina says
Love this! Great useful tips . I would also suggest using stainless steal pots and pans and utensils and glass bowls. If taken care of, these last a very long time. I’m now using my mother’s pots and pans and utensils and glass bowls which I remember her using in the kitchen when I was a child.
Elizabeth says
For sure! These are just a few swaps but there are many more we all can make. Thank you for the suggestions!
Holly Whiteside says
I really appreciate this post. I have been looking for places in my area where I can purchase certain foods without packaging, but feel frustrated. I normally shun membership-required stores, but I will check these out and if I could get beans, rice, etc. without packaging there I might actually join. Sometimes the term “bulk” just means larger packaging, not bring your own container, which makes it more difficult finding these places. I’m not in an urban area, so my choices are more limited. I’ve started canning as a way to reduce packaging, too, but since Covid our county no loner recycles glass! I heard it is because China is no longer buying it so the market for used glass has crashed and our communities can’t sell it on. I hope this changes, but in the mean time our trash volume has been increasing, so I’m trying to make more of my own stuff from scratch, as as you said, recycling should be the last resort, anyway.
Thanks again and please post more tips if you think of any.
Elizabeth says
Thanks for stopping by! There is usually still some packaging involved when buying in bulk, but not as much. So you cut down on some of the trash. I also look for canning jars at thrift stores and at yard sales. If your county is short on glass products, you may have to find used items. I definitely need to write more sustainable living articles. I’ll see what I can come up with this week!
Holly Whiteside says
Lovely article. I like that some of your suggestions are different from what I usually see, along with some very important suggestions which should not be missed, like replacing paper products. I would like to offer some additional suggestions…
1. Eat produce with the local produce seasons, and visit farmer’s markets, farm stands, or join a local CSA. Transporting food long distances adds additional layers of packaging waste, but also carbon emissions, and may be grown out of season in greenhouses. The produce also has to be picked green to get to us, so it is not as nutritious.
2. Consider buying some cookware and kitchen tools used. Good tools, pans, and good baking dishes never wear out.
3. Start reducing the number of prepared foods you buy. Making more of my condiments myself reduces the amount of packaging I bring home. A 25lb bag of flour in paper packaging can bake not only bread, but cookies, crackers, muffins, cakes, pies, biscuits, pasta, etc.
4. Garden, even if it is only a little bit. If you garden your herbs, for instance, you can dry them yourself and reduce packaging and the transportation of them to you. Buying foods at bulk stores is wonderful and reduces a layer of packaging, but the stores receive their bulk goods in packaging, and they are shipped on pallets that are wrapped in plastic or with other packaging, so growing your own herbs allows you to completely eliminate the packaging.
5. Reduce the number of foreign imports you buy. I like limiting myself to ten products plus spices, which, when you start considering where your food comes from, is hard to do. Coffee, tea, olive oil, pasta, chocolate, coconuts, cheeses, pepperoni, palm oil, bananas, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, and countless other products are imported to northern countries.
These reductions in waste are achievable and become joyful. We are all on a journey, and it progresses well if we take it just one step at a time, but keep going!