Where to Start with a Low Waste Kitchen

Taking the first few steps towards a low waste kitchen can feel like a really daunting task; but it doesn’t need to be!

Reducing waste and making your kitchen help the planet can be as simple as making little changes that you don’t even notice.

Key Takeaways

• Changing a brush or sponge can massively reduce plastic from entering the water system
• Find a refill shop for your cleaning materials or check out the most sustainable option from the supermarket
• Fresh food can make reducing waste easy if you know how to keep it!

Brushes and Sponges

Changing from a plastic washing up brush to one made from wood with natural fibres is probably one of the easiest changes you can make in your home. It means that there are no microplastics in or around your dishes and therefore none going out into the ecosystem that lives after the drain.

Sponges are also a massive polluter of microplastics. Most are made from virgin plastics that are slowly leaching plastics into the water, and that’s not even talking about the green scourers that are often on the bottom. You can often seen the particles coming off of them.

Changing to a natural sponge is great but can sometimes be hard to find. If you want something a little easier and even better for our oceans (so we can leave those lovely sponges alone), there are the cellulose one, or even loofahs. Cellulose sponges are great because they are completely compostable and have the holes because they have been submerged in a salt solution. You can also get them with a natural scourer on the bottom to properly replace the yellow and green ones we are so used to seeing.

Loofahs are a bit different. You can grow them! They need to be harvested and dried out before they can be used, so they are going to take a lot longer to get your hands on compared to a manufactured alternative. If you are willing to put in the effort though, it could definitely be worth it!

Cleaning Fluids

Now, we are talking all those strong smelling chemicals that we have all had sitting in our cupboards at one time or another.

When we use them, it means that not only is the plastic from our sponges and brushes going out into the environment but the chemicals are heading that way too. Something that shocked me when I first starting looking at what we are using in the kitchen is that a good number of cleaning products have the symbol on them that shows they are harmful to aquatic life! Sometimes it said it on the back of the bottle rather than have the symbol, but the message is the same! These are things like washing up liquid that we have to put down the sink to use…

Along with hurting our environment, some of the chemicals we use can be harmful to our health. I have spoken to lots of people who have family members that almost can be in the house when there is cleaning going on because of smells triggering asthma or other breathing related health conditions.

That’s where natural cleaning products come in.

Refill shops are a great way to find ethical, kind to planet alternatives that are often just as good if not better at cleaning your kitchen than the big name chemical brands. They are generally run by people who spend the time researching and understanding what goes into the products and why they are a good choice. They are also a great way to ensure your bottles and containers are being reused and getting second life before heading into the recycling system!

We know refilling is not always an option for everyone for a multitude of reasons, so when you do end up in the cleaning aisle, its definitely worth actively looking for a brand that is better for you and the planet.

Fresh Food

Speaking of supermarkets, it feels like fresh food is always covered in so much unnecessary packaging! Like, why do apples need to be in a plastic bag?

There is a lot of other food sections that can have their packaging reduced; for example getting your dried good from a refill shop, or even just checking out what is available in glass jars or tins rather than packets. Fresh food feels like an area that you can easily make more of a difference.

There are generally sections of the fruit and veg aisle where you can find loose or unpackaged items. If they have to be weighed, it can often be cheaper than the packaged alternative, so it is definitely worth checking prices.

Fresh food can sometimes go off or even mouldy, it is just nature doing its thing. Easy ways make sure you get the most out of your food and also reduce the waste; buy what you need and not too much, make sure you are storing your food in the fridge or in a dark cupboard (depending on what you have bought), and if it does go bad, find a compost system either from the council or see if a neighbour has a compost bin you can add to. That would stop the food going into landfill and creating greenhouse gases that it doesn’t need to.

The kitchen is often viewed as the heart of the home; it’s where we eat, drink and find the ice cream! It also produces a lot of waste. Making some easy swaps means you are able to reduce the amount of harmful waste that’s going out into the environment and reducing your carbon footprint too!