If you’re looking to minimize waste and live a more sustainable lifestyle, the kitchen is a great place to start. In this article, I will share practical tips for creating a Zero Waste Kitchen and minimizing food waste in your home.
1. Switch to Reusable Cloth Napkins
Another practical advice for the people who want to start waste-free kitchen is using cloth napkins instead of disposable paper napkins. Don’t be using such flimsy products like disposable napkins to be used and then thrown away after use, try and use cloth napkins that can be washed and used again. One such change greatly minimizes the use of paper in the kitchen and it is quite simple to observe.
2. Ditch Paper Towels for Reusable Cotton Cloths
For the spills use reusable cotton cloths rather than the common kitchen paper towels. These can be washed and reused so that people do not need to use products that are single-use and hence, cause waste. As time goes, this a small change would go a long way in saving unnecessary disposal of waste in the kitchen.
3. Opt for Loose Leaf Teas
Surprisingly, you should know that most tea bags contain some amount of plastic. None of them are a problem as loose leaf tea is less harmful since it has less packaging as compared to tea bags and minimizes waste. For instance, if you cultivate herbs at home in your garden, you are also in a position to brew your own teas eliminating also the aspect of waste in the kitchen.
4. Save Energy with a Heat Flask
Most people are conscious of the fact that boiling kettle several times a day is not only wasteful of water but also electricity. One of the most helpful energy-saving tips in relation to the zero waste kitchen is to put boiling water into a heat flask. This maintains the water hot for some hours thus you do not have to reboil the water severally.
5. Sustainable Dishwashing Alternatives
If you hand wash the dishes, try using a soap not solution or use washing-up liquid in concentrated form available at your local health food stores and thus reducing on your plastic usage. Replace all plastic scrubbing brushes with copper or wooden scrubbing brushes with natural bristles. When these brushes reach their useful end, you can bury the parts and that brings you another means of practicing zero waste in your kitchen.
6. Store Produce in Glass Jars
It is time to bid farewell to plastic containers!. Glass jars are very ecological since they are reusable thus being environmentally friendly for storage of produce. If you can find no package-free foods, better look for the larger packs with good and environment friendly packaging such as paper more than the plastic.
7. DIY Natural Cleaning Solutions
Vinegar is a perfect cleaner in a zero waste kitchen. To enhance its scent I heard that orange peel soaked in vinegar for about 2 weeks and the presence of vinegar alone can help a lot. After some time, the vinegar smell vanishes but your kitchen gets cleaned and there will be no waste produced.
8. Use What You Have Before Buying More
Another best practice on how to conduct no waste cooking is to learn to use the ingredients you already bought before buying new ones. Most of the time, you are likely to find it astonishing on the kind of meals you can come up with using the ingredients that are stored in your kitchen cabinets. It helps to reduce food wastage and the wastage of the packaging materials used in wrapping the foods.
9. Compost Vegetable Scraps
Composting is something that will be of great help in managing kitchen wastes. If you do not have a compost bin many places have recycling brown food bins for compostable material. Trimmings such as cauliflower stems can also be blanched, shocked and frozen for making vegetable stock, making a zero waste kitchen is possible.
10. Choose Stainless Steel or Wooden Utensils
Say no to plastics and use more rigid materials that are more durable such as metal or any type of wood. These last longer and are in most of the cases produced without harming the environment in any way. You can get good utensils that are second-hand from charity shops once you are ready to practice the zero-waste kitchen.
11. Eliminate Cling Film and Plastic Lunchboxes
Replace plastic containers and wrap in glass jars and containers for food storage particularly in the refrigerator. Glass is better to cling film or plastic lunchboxes and retains the quality of foods without making additional use of plastic.
12. Buy Bulk or Loose Fruits and Vegetables
When it comes to buying fruits and vegetables, try to select those that are not packed or if you do use a bag please use a cotton one not the plastic one. This minimizes on packaging waste that may accumulate back in the kitchen hence enhancing your zero waste kitchen personality.
13. Invest in Multi-Function Appliances
The other measure that you can use to reduce wastage is by making sure that you obtain better appliances which are multi-featured and durable. This has a way of minimizing the use of several different appliances that are used only once, they are then discarded whenever they are faulty or even if they’ve been overlooked for use for some time.
Zero Waste Kitchen is About Progress, Not Perfection
Bear this in mind, the objective of a zero waste kitchen is not to produce Immediate zero waste. That’s about of doing things which gradually lead to reducing waste as far as is possible. If you follow these tips then you will be able to come up with a green kitchen that will be more sustainable and improve the environment.
If you have any additional zero waste kitchen tips, feel free to share them in the comments. Together, we can make our kitchens greener, one step at a time!