Zero Waste Kitchen Swaps

If you’re not familiar with the term “zero waste,” it’s a movement to reduce the amount of single-use plastic and disposables in our daily lives that come back to harm us in the form of increased greenhouses gases and plastic pollution. The average American throws away roughly 4 pounds of trash a day. That’s quite a bit, and even if we try to recycle, most of us aren’t good at it, only 9% of all plastic has been recycled. And currently, the world recycling system was thrown into a mess when China stopped accepting most recyclables. China accounted for the majority of the recycling market, and since the U.S. sent a lot of recycling to China, most municipalities are struggling to figure out what to do with all this material. That’s where the zero waste movement comes in. The 5 Rs of zero waste are refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, and rot. The aim is to not generate plastic or waste in the first place, and if you do, find ways to reduce purchasing of those items and swap products that are not single-use. When it comes to the kitchen, so much of what we buy and use comes in single-use plastic containers or paper. If we take a proactive approach to getting our kitchen set up so that we don’t need so many single-use materials, it can save us time and money. And with cooking already being time-consuming and expensive. If we can streamline the process, it can reduce the cost at the grocery and time preparing meals.

Now before you scroll down and see the list of kitchen items you should swap out, you should first start with the food you are buying and how often. Food waste accounts for 8% of global emissions, not to mention the cost savings of not throwing food away. Take look at the food you throw away and way. I used to make all my meals for the work week on Sunday, but found by Friday the food wasn’t that fresh and I was more likely to go out during lunch or dinner to get food instead. If I went to the store on Wednesday and made meals for the remaining few days it was better, since the food was fresh and I threw less away. So if you are throwing food away, think why did you let it go bad, and what you can do to not waste money next time.

It might take some initial investment at first to get these reusable items, but they will pay off for years to come.

SILICON BAKING MATS

Swap aluminum foil for Silicon baking matts. These are non-stick matts that you can put on your baking sheet when you use the oven instead of aluminum foil or greasing the pan.

CLOTH NAPKINS

So often we buy paper towels and use them and toss them without a second thought. This recent shortage of paper towels might ave you think of an alternative of what to do if you run out. Well the solution is you don’t really need them in the first place. Cloth napkins or towels can be used in place of paper towels. Buy some cloth towels or use the ones buried in a drawer in your kitchen, use them like you would for normal paper towels. Once they get dirty, put them in a container or someplace to store them before you do your next load of laundry. Just toss them in the wash with your other towels. If its particularly dirt you can hand wash it and hang it to dry. I typically have a few towels hanging on the oven door to use to dry my hands. If you have 5-7 cloth napkins that should be enough to take care of daily chores without running for about a week. If you buy a set of cloth napkins this will save on having to buy paper towels on a regular basis, saving quite a bit of money in the long run.

SILICON BAGS

Swap sandwich ziplock bags for silicon bags. Think of the savings if you use ziplock bags everyday for lunch and you switch to a reusable silicon bag that you wash and use again.

BEESWAX WRAP

A reusable alternative to Saran Wrap. Instead of dealing with this clunky clingy foil you can get these wraps which you wash the cloth in cool water, dry, and use again.

REUSABLE SHOPPING BAGS

I think we’ve all had the instances of a paper of plastic bag breaking on us. We can eliminate that worry and make carrying groceries easier since you can fit a lot more into cloth shopping bags.

PRODUCE BAGS

In addition to bringing your reusable bag to the grocery store, you should also have some reusable produce bags so you don’t have to fiddle with those thin plastic bags and ties. Those thin bags are not recyclable at all, and if you try to recycle them they only end up clogging up the machines at the recycling plant.

DISH SOAP BLOCK AND BRUSH

The kitchen is likely the largest waste producer in your home. In addition to looking for reducing single use plastics. Also look at eliminating plastics from other things you buy like your dish soap and scrub brush. Similar to eliminating plastic bottles in the bathroom, you can swap for bar soap for cleaning. If you’re not ready to take that step yet then you could look at refillable soap options that don’t use harsh chemicals. Ingredients to remove from your dish cleaning would be chlorine, formaldehyde, fragrance, and ammonia. When we wash our dishes by hand the soaps and chemicals on them can linger on the dishes which then can transfer onto our food.

GLASS /METAL TUPPERWARE

If you already have a set of plastic or reusable tupperware then great. No need to replace it, but you don’t meal prep for work or travel then you should consider these reusable containers. Buying lunch everyday at the office can be less healthy and expensive. And if you are traveling or running errands around town then you should pack some food to eat instead of stopping at the nearest sandwich shop. If you are focusing on getting in great shape, then having prepared meals ready to go wherever you are will help you stay on track.

COMPOST BIN

So we’ve talked about limiting your food waste, reducing single waste items in your kitchen-and lastly I want to mention how to reduce the food waste that goes to the landfill. Food in the landfill emits more emissions as opposed to natural decomposition since it can’t properly decompose in that environment. By taking the food scraps and collecting in a bin, they can decompose naturally and be turned into nutrient rich soil that you can add to a garden, nearby plants, or give to your local compost pick-up if you have that.

So what can you compost? 

Quite a lot: fruits, veggies, eggshells, coffee grounds, nut shells. 

What you can’t: meat, dairy, bones, pet litter, grease or oils

Where to keep the compost?

Put it in a bin in the kitchen or on your patio and empty every so often.

To get rid of the compost you can use your cities garbage pick up if that is available, if not, find a local drop off or private service to pick up. 

If you want to try to make your own compost to use for a garden or bin check out this article from NPR to get started.

From reducing single use purchases, to eliminating food waste, to reducing your trash. There is lots you can do to save money on food, which is one of our biggest monthly expenditures, and create less waste in the process.