Here at Kwiksweep, we are always looking for ways to reduce unnecessary waste and plastic in our lives – especially when it comes to our kitchens.
As whether it’s fruits coming wrapped in plastic or food that could be composted rather than going in a bin, making a few key changes in your kitchen can really reduce your waste.
Now, no one can ever truly have a zero-waste kitchen, as you’re always going to have some waste. Indeed, the term zero-waste can be very off-putting, as because we feel doomed to fail, we just don’t want to give it try.
However, by just making one or two changes to your kitchen, you’ll be making a big difference – especially when others follow in your footsteps!
1: Try to Bulk Buy
If you use a lot of a certain item – such as flour – you can reduce packaging waste by choosing to buy in bulk. As a very large sack of flour with have less overall packaging than buying 10-15 small bags of flour. For places selling in bulk, look for a local Costco. You’ll also find that some big supermarkets like Tesco will have a bulk aisle.
If you’re not so keen on buying in bulk, more and more zero waste shops are popping up across the UK. Here you can take glass jars and other reusable containers to buy items that usually come with a lot of packaging, such as rice, soap and cereals.
2: Reduce the Number of Disposables You Use
While most of us tend to avoid plastic disposable bottles, there are a few disposable items that many of use every day in our kitchens without thinking – such as cling film and paper towels. While these feel convenient, there are some zero-waste alternatives that are just as easy to use.
For instance, rather than using cling film, invest in some beeswax coated cloths that can be used in the same way and then just wiped clean and used again. Then, instead of paper towels, get a back of microfibre cloths that are absorbent and great for cleaning – just chuck them in the washing machine and use again.
3: Buy Fewer Ingredients
While most of use don’t have the time or patience to make our own deodorant and items like that, there are a few staples in our kitchens that we can make from ingredients we already have. So, if you have a recipe you want to follow that requires something like baking powder, before you buy a new ingredient with more packaging, look to see of you already have baking soda and cream of tartar that you can use to make baking powder.
4: Bring Reusable Bags
Fruit and vegetables are notorious for being covered in unnecessary plastic. Even the loose produce you see gets put into a plastic bag before going into your trolley. To stop this cycle, bring reusable bags to add your fresh fruit and vegetables into when shopping.
5: Try Composting
Whether it’s egg shells or vegetable peels, we add a lot of food waste into our bins without thinking. Instead, though, make something useful out of this waste by creating your own compost station. Not only will this compost be ideal for your garden, compost is brilliant for the environment as it removes some of carbon from our air.
Featured Image | Christian Mackie on Unsplash
*This is a collaborative post
