I’ve been wanting to write this post for a long time. Over the past few years I’ve started to care more and more for the environment and really think about the impact my actions and habits have on this earth. I am in no way perfect, but I have tried to make small changes to reduce my waste, many of them in the kitchen. Sharing five feasible tips and some of my favorite environmentally-friendly products below!
1. Limit your use of disposables.
I use these glass straws instead of plastic (they’re great for smoothies too), these silicon bags instead of plastic baggies to take lunch to work, store leftovers and even freeze things, and these washable cloths instead of paper towels. These container covers can replace plastic wrap/foil. I use these silicon baking sheets instead of lining the pan with foil. And just don’t buy bottled water. It’s Brita all the way in my house! I’ve been eying this Brita water bottle for traveling as I don’t always love the taste of tap water. Okay and this is random and has nothing to do with the kitchen, but I use these reusable makeup remover pads instead of cotton balls and they are so great! You just throw them in the washing machine in a little bag they come in.
2. Don’t let food go bad.
Brown bananas? Peel and freeze for smoothies or Whole 30 Ice Cream Bites. Wilting spinach or really any green vegetable going bad? Steam then freeze for sauces or soups or puree with a little bit of water and pour into ice cube trays and freeze for smoothies. I also steam squash then freeze and throw into all sorts of recipes – I love frozen zuchinni in smoothies!
You should also make sure you’re storing food correctly so it doesn’t go bad more quickly than it should. For example cucumbers and tomatoes shouldn’t be kept in the fridge, while citrus should. You can add an apple to your sack of potatoes to keep them from going bad. Store asparagus and celery upright in water in the fridge. Mushrooms do best in a paper bag while garlic and onions like a ventilated bag. You can stick a paper towel in the container with your greens and berries to absorb moisture and keep them from wilting. I keep my ezekial bread in the freezer to make it last longer (it thaws when you toast it.) And you should never wash produce before putting it in the fridge! Check out this article for more tips.
3. Green your grocery shopping.
First things first: if you’re not using reusable grocery bags, start using them now! And keep them in your car so you actually have them when you go to the grocery. As soon as I unload my groceries I put my bags right by the front door and back in the car they go. I have these kind of reusable bags that fold up into a little square so you can keep one in your purse. You can also buy these bags for bulk items and produce instead of the plastic bags provided at the grocery. Or just skip the bag all together! Not all those veggies need to be individually wrapped in plastic – you’re going to wash them anyways 😉
4. Think about packaging.
All the packaging food comes in can be so wasteful. I love the bulk bins, 1. because they’re usually cheaper and allow you to get exactly the amount you need, but 2. it eliminates wasteful packaging. You can get nuts, seeds, trail mix, popcorn, chocolate, candy, granola, beans, rice, quinoa, even pasta in the bulk bin. I also try to buy in large quantities of kitchen staples when I can, so that I’m throwing away packaging less often. When researching this blog post I realized that aerosol cans of cooking spray are one of the worst packaging-wise, so I think I’m going to buy this refillable oil sprayer to replace the cans I usually buy.
5. Go meatless one day of the week.
There’s all sorts of statistics I could share, but meat (red meat in particular) is not great for the environment. It is said the raising and eating of livestock not only pollutes water, air, and soil, and is also responsible for 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions. I do not foresee myself going vegetarian and am certainly not asking you to do that, but when I lived alone I actually didn’t cook that much meat at home. I love eggs, protein pasta or a veggie stir fry for a hearty meal without meat. I’m still working on Dave to see if we can go meatless one night a week 😉
I hope this gave y’all some ideas! I want to reiterate, I don’t think you have to do everything on this list, but if you can make a few small changes, together we can make a difference. I get that we all lead crazy lives, and maybe reusable silicon bags instead of plastic bags aren’t feasible for your kid’s lunch box, and that’s okay! Start small and see if you can make one change every few months. I would love to know if you have any tips to add to this list, let me know in the comments below!
Biscuits & blessings,
Leels
