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Simple Switches to Reduce Your Kitchen Waste

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Newsflash! Creating waste is a natural part of life. Actually, each person in the U.S. is responsible for about 5 pounds of waste per day! Almost half of this waste comes from the kitchen in the form of plastics, paper and cardboard, textiles, and glass or metals. In other words, food containers and other single-use products, like packaging, paper towels, and cleaning materials. 

These single-use plastic products emerged to meet our demand for convenience. Grab and go! One and done! Unfortunately, this convenience has created a lot of unnecessary trash and pollution. The good news is this waste is easily reduced. Keep reading to learn about some simple switches you can make to reduce your kitchen waste!

In this post, I am sharing 11 items you can switch for your single-use or disposable products to create less waste! 

Why Reducing Waste Matters

If we take that 5 pounds of waste per person per day, that adds up to 250 million TONS of garbage each year. This tons and tons of trash ends up in landfills, or strays out into nature where it takes centuries to break down. Clearly, it would be helpful to decrease the amount of trash we’re sending to landfills.

But, it’s important to back up and think about the entire life cycle of a product. When you purchase a roll of paper towels and dispose of the plastic packaging and towels after each use, that is only part of the life of that product. Therefore, it is only part of the waste stream created by those products. So, what does the beginning look like? 

Birth of a Plastic Baggie

Let’s think about the example of a plastic sealable storage bag. 

  1. The first step in making resealable plastic bags is the extraction of fossil fuels. 
  2. Next, the crude oil and natural gas is taken to refineries where they are separated into their molecular components. During this process, a component called “naphtha” is derived for the making of plastics. 
  3. Naphtha is then ultra-heated to break apart the compounds in preparation of polymerization. 
  4. After polymerization, a polyethylene resin is formed, then cooled and chopped into pellets for shipping to manufacturers. 
  5. Finally, at the factory, the pellets are melted down and used to create the final product–a single-use sealable plastic bag.

Mid-Life Begins and Ends

The entire process, from fossil fuel extraction to production of a box of plastic bags uses lots of energy and creates its own waste. The mid-life of the plastic baggie is when you grab that box off the store shelf to make sure you have bags for the team snacks this weekend! After hungry little hands devour those orange slices, the baggies make their way to the trash. 

Never Say Die

Plastic bags can take up to 1,000 years to break down. Sun exposure helps the process by degrading the long chains of molecules that make up most types of plastics. Unfortunately, this results in microplastics which are teeny tiny pieces of broken down plastic. These tiny pieces can end up in our food, our bodies, and are being found pretty much everywhere on the planet.  

Reducing your personal waste by making simple switches will reap lots of benefits. It will save you money, reduce burden on landfills, save energy and resources, reduce greenhouse gasses, and lessen the impact on the natural world. I call that a win, win, win, win, win!

Replacing Your Kitchen Standards with Sustainable Products

Take a look around your kitchen. You likely have some standard products you depend on to make daily life doable. Paper towels, sponges, plastic wrap, trash bags, and other single-use type products help you to easily clean up messes, pack lunches, and save leftovers. And after that brief moment of helping you complete a task, that product goes in the trash. 

For example, the ubiquitous plastic bag. Globally, 5 TRILLION plastic bags are produced per year! How many? That is 5,000,000,000,000 plastic bags or 160,000 every second. It is estimated that 300 millions of these bags end up in the Atlantic Ocean.

All of that waste accrues so we can use these bags to carry in the groceries. Or, you can think of it this way. Plastics take millions of years to be made, but the average use of a bag is only 12 minutes.

Luckily, I have found some simple switches to help you reduce all that kitchen waste! More and more companies are looking to produce sustainable products to meet the needs of their consumers. Recycled and sustainably sourced materials are being used to create durable, eye-catching replacements for those boring old plastics!

Make the Switch 

Below I have listed 11 sustainable kitchen items that can supplant your single-use, disposable products and save you money! Just think, if you’re not buying paper towels and plastic bags every few weeks those dollars will add up quickly!  

Items to Keep the Kitchen Spic and Span

  1. These Swedish reusable dish towels were made to last! Made out of completely compostable material, just one of these towels will last up to 3 months. This replaces up to 17 rolls of paper towels! They can be washed in the washing machine, and the 3-pack comes with convenient clips for hanging to dry. Also, the material is quick to dry so you won’t get that mildew smell after cleaning the kitchen!
  2. Cooking means cleaning. Kitchen sponges contain plastic, polyester, polyethylene, and loads of other p-words. Consider cleaning your kitchen with a Natural kitchen sponge. With all materials derived from plants, these sponges are part compostable. The porous structure means they are quick drying, resistant to bacterial growth, and stink-free!
  3. Plastic waste ends up tied up in a plastic garbage bag creating even more waste. HoldOn has a better solution, a Tall kitchen compostable heavy duty trash bags made with plant-based material! This trash bag will break down in weeks compared to the decades of traditional plastic bags.
  4. Life is messy. This is why most kitchens are stocked with numerous cleaners. Bottles of bleach, multipurpose disinfectants, vinegar, and more. Swamp all those disposable cleaner bottles for Blueland All Purpose cleaner with refills. Cut through grease and other kitchen messes with the fresh lemon scent of this plant-based cleaner.
  5. Let’s face it. Nobody likes to mop, but you’ll feel better about getting it done with Uncle Todd’s Concentrate Floor Cleaner Sheets. Standard mop solutions contain harsh chemicals, create plastic waste, and use gallons of water. These concentrated sheets dissolve quickly, come in eco-friendly packaging, and all you do is mop and let dry!
  6. Brighten up your dishwashing experience with Skoy Scrub reusable sponges! Made from remnant fibers from the textile industry, these sustainable sponges can be used again and again.

Items for Making and Storing Food 

  1. Save your leftovers with Reusable beeswax wrap! No more aluminum foil or fighting with plastic wrap! Beeswax wrappers are washable and create an airtight seal over containers or leftover food. After you’ve enjoyed those leftovers, simply wash your wraps and drape to dry! 
  2. Whether you’re practicing for Bake Off or baking Sunday morning biscuits, Silicone baking sheets will prevent the stick and reduce parchment paper trash. These sheets come in different sizes to fit your pans and are easy to clean. You can put away your oil, non-stick sprays, and parchment paper and be confident in a no stick bake!
  3. Remember the life of a plastic bag from before? Problem solved: Reusable food storage bags. Available in snack, sandwich, and gallon size, you’ll have the convenience of the single-use plastic baggie without the waste. These bags are leak proof, freezer safe, and dishwasher safe. Get all the life out of these bags and keep the plastic out of the landfill.
  4. It’s inevitable. Storage bowls with missing lids. But no need to break out the plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Instead give these adorable Li’l Things Eco-friendly Beeswax bowl covers a try! You’ll get 5 different sizes and patterns. Beeswax covers keep your food safe and stinky free. Simply wash, air dry, and use again and again!
  5. Charcuterie on your mind? Gruyere, cheddar, asiago, or whatever your cheese choice keeps those cheeses fresh with Reusable cheese storage bags. Your cheese will stay fresher longer in these porous paper bags and reduces plastic waste! Bon appetit! 

Waste Happens But Simple Switches Can Help

Life creates waste. But we don’t have to make plastic waste the norm. Kitchens are where life happens, so naturally much of the waste we produce comes from kitchen products. The convenience of plastic can be met with more sustainable plant-based products. This means you can save those leftovers, pack those lunches, and keep the kitchen spic and span without filling landfills with plastics! 

Even little actions we do today, will help conserve the plant for the future. Simple switching of your paper towels for reusable cloths, single-use sponges for washable sponges, and plastic wraps for beeswax wrapping can make a big impact! 

Get in the kitchen. Make a mess! Make life happen! And with these 11 sustainable items you can feel good knowing less plastic is heading to the landfill. You can get more ideas about sustainable living in my Going Green Made Simple post.

Embark, Explore, and Enjoy by trying a new recipe! And don’t forget to save the leftovers. 

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