Tips on How to Achieve a Zero Waste Kitchen

Taking care of the environment is one of my main motivations when it comes to my daily life. More and more I have been incorporating habits that reduce, recycle or reuse different products that I had taken for granted before. One of my goals is to achieve zero waste, or as close to zero waste as I can, and one of the main challenges I have found is doing away with plastic containers and plastic wrap in the kitchen. I have been searching for ideas and ways to improve on this and today I want to share them with you. We are going to discuss essentials for a zero waste kitchen conservation.

Recycling waste in the kitchen

The first thing you need to do is to set up two different containers. One will be for compost, which you can use in your garden or you can offer your friends. The other will be for recycling. 

If you absolutely need to throw some plastic away that you cannot clean, for example, some plastic wrap, you can always set up another, smaller, container, but we recommend you try and go cold turkey with your plastic fix.

In the compost container, you will throw all organic materials you need to dispose of while cooking. Eggshells, banana peels, etc. They still have nutrients that will be beneficial for the soil and plants and bugs that grow in it. 

In the recycling container, you can put dry plastic, glass and paper. Remember, though, that recycling has a limit, and the real difference is made when we reduce our waste in the first place.

Reusing in the kitchen

This one is easy! Glass containers can be made into an array of useful things. They can hold spices or some jelly you made. You can also use them to store pens in your office or desk.

You can use old cutlery to make art or bend them to create interesting looking hooks. There is an array of different options and clever ideas available online for you to search and get creative!

Reducing waste in the kitchen

This is the heart of the issue. Not creating waste in the first place should be our main goal. The main offenders are plastic packagings we can find on a lot of different items in the grocery store.

Our first tip would be to look for a store in your neighborhood that sells pantry items like flour, oatmeal, cereals, nuts, legumes like raw chickpeas or lentils, etc, by the pound and lets you bring in your own containers. 

For this, you can reuse some old plastic containers you have in your kitchen to give them a new lease of life. This will avoid them being thrown away in a dumpster to sit and pollute the planet for the next couple of hundred years until they eventually decompose.

You can also try and buy your produce from a farmer’s market. The products will be fresher and tastier, we guarantee it! This is also very sustainable, as supporting your local producers is way better than giving your money to large corporations.

To the market you can definitely bring your own produce bags. We love these ones from Simply Eco. Just ask the vendor to fill them in with your purchase! You can also help save the planet and use eco friendly cotton bags which will be very useful for your regular grocery shopping.

So? What do you think? Will you be able to implement any or all of these tips into your daily life? Living a zero waste life is hard, but if we all try our best maybe we can save our planet! Every little effort counts, we need to be the change we want to see in the world.