There are so many things you can do to “go green” at home that sometimes it feels overwhelming. I’m sharing just 5 sustainable swaps I’ve made in my kitchen — my favorite part of the house!
There are a 100+ things you can do to “go green” at home. Sometimes I feel bad for not doing them all, but we should all be striving for progress not perfection. Do the best you can to make sustainable choices dependent on your environment, time, resources, etc. For example, if you live in a high rise in NYC, having a compost bin may not be at the top of your list (unless your building has a compost system in place!), but you can use reusable cloths instead of paper towels.
That said, I know just how important it is for the wellness of our planet to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Whether that’s using clean beauty products in recyclable packing, reusing bags or using cloth bags instead of wrapping gifts, running errands on foot, or giving a tub full of too-small kids clothing to a friend as hand-me-downs, these are just a few of the ways I do my part to live a more sustainable life.
But, today, I want to talk about sustainability just in the kitchen. Here are just a handful of ways that we’ve made a few small changes that add up. Bonus: going green usually saves you money too!
5 Sustainable Swaps I’ve Made In My Kitchen
1. Cloth or Paper Snack Bags
While using a washable container or Lunchskins bag is ideal sometimes you need something disposable or super lightweight. Instead of plastic baggies (because we all know how much plastic and trash winds up in our ocean), we use paper snack bags (like these). There are so many reusable food bag options out there, so if paper isn’t for you, there are cloth/velcro ones, silicon ones like the popular StasherBag, and of course endless glass Tupperware choices. If you’re able to cut out or minimize your plastic bag usage, that’s a huge start! (Plus it saves money!) We do use a gallon zip lock from time to time, but only when nothing else will really fit the bill.
2. Gardening (A Little) At Home
Herbs, greens, and tomatoes is all we really have good luck with – but hey, it’s better than nothing! Not only does it save us a few dollars (or more) during the summer months, but it means we are growing organic produce (and limiting pesticides/toxins) and minimizing our carbon footprint. We’re hoping to get the boys out there in the dirt this spring, and I have plans for a little herb collection on the new porch. If you don’t have your own space for a garden, community gardens are popping up in towns everywhere.
3. Composting
Gardening and composting often go hand in hand, but not necessarily. I tried a countertop compost years ago, and while I applaud anyone who does that, it was just a little too gross for me to have inside. In this house we have a big compost pile between our house and the neighbor’s house that our neighbor maintains and so generously shares with us. We don’t put every eggshell in there, but if I have a bowl’s worth of veggie scraps or a bunch of watermelon rinds, I send Mazen out to dump it. (He thinks it’s cool because it’s gross.) Another option we have here is companies who come to your house to pick up your compost. Black Bear Composting here in town is one that some of our other neighbors use.
4. Bento Lunch Boxes
Instead of using disposable containers I pack Mazen’s lunch in a bento. Not only does it keep his meals less of a mess, but it means I can avoid brown paper and plastic bags — there’s almost no need for single-use baggies because this box keeps everything neat and tidy. He picked out this one because it fits perfectly inside a cloth lunch bag, but there are some great stainless steel options available, too.
I just created a handy download with 75+ kids lunchbox ideas! Download it here!
5. Minimizing Paper Towels
We use washable cloths and napkins for cleaning counters and wiping hands, and try to save paper towels for bigger spills and messes. While I think the idea of going totally paper towel free is the best option, we’ve been using the Who Gives a Crap recycled paper towels to vote with our dollars. I will admit they aren’t quite as heavy duty as Bounty, I do think they’re a good compromise between all washable and using too many conventional paper towels. The more single-use items in your kitchen you can avoid (plastic water bottles, plastic bags, paper napkins, paper plates), the better!
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog says
I need to start making these swaps too! I wish I could garden at home or compost my food scraps – my living situation doesn’t really allow for it, though 🙁
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Albertina Geller says
I applaud your efforts for our environment. Every small step counts. We need to remember how important climate change is. Great, Great work!
Jill says
I love the reusable Keeper brand bags. They’re dishwasher safe too. I tried to attach a link but it didn’t work.
Kath Younger says
Found them here!
Eliza says
Food waste is responsible for a significant percentage of greenhouse gases. I backyard compost my fruit and vegetable scraps and yard waste,, but the city of Charlottesville has a drop-off compost program that accepts a ton of things that you can’t compost at home – like meat, fat, and dairy scraps. You can also compost your greasy pizza boxes with their program. It’s not gross at all. I have a small bucket with an odor-shield lid and when it’s full, I just drop it off at the designated spot, which is right on my way to work anyway. In fact, I have found that it’s less gross than throwing food scraps in the trash because the compost drop off is available 24/7, whereas with trash pickup, you have gross food scraps sitting in your garbage can for a whole week. The amount of trash that we put out at the curb has decreased dramatically since we signed up for Cville’s program. Also, it’s free! I highly recommend that any of your local readers check it out.
Kath Younger says
All great to know!
Brigid says
I want to start composting. I apparently have alot to learn b/c I didn’t realize you can’t compost meat or dairy at home. Do you have a bin outside? Is it completely animal proof? And how long does it take for it all to breakdown. Maybe you could just guide me to a “composting for dummies” type of link.
Kori says
Great post! I appreciate you acknowledging that is about progress but not perfection. We do really try at home, but then I feel guilty if I can’t do all the things. I have been using old hand towels-turned wash rags to cut way down on paper towels, and it feels really good. We recycle, and my next focus is to reduce plastic bags. Do those that you linked cause bread to taste odd? I bought two reusable bags on Etsy in 2013, and they caused my bread to dry out and taste like the liner. I will certainly order these if you vouch for them! Thank you for this resource.
Kath Younger says
I haven’t noticed a change in taste. That said, if I’m packing a sandwich I almost always use a reusable bento box and not a bag.
Kori says
Okay thank you! We do the same. These seems like they perhaps may be great for pretzels, nuts, dried fruit, etc. 🙂
Laura says
We’ve used stasher bags for sandwiches and they work great! No weird taste or drying out.
Kori says
Wonderful! I’ll need to invest in some one day.
Laura says
We recycle as much as we can, compost (my husband hates it and calls it my fungus bucket), rarely use plastic bags and when we do, I wash and reuse them so long as there’s not a hole, use cloth napkins and reuse old cloth diaper inserts and tshirts as rags for cleaning. And we have metal straws. No one can be perfect, but we can all make a difference if we all do something!
Sam says
I try to avoid packing hot food in plastic boxes as much as possible. I know there are boxes made with food grade plastics, but why take a chance. Stainless steel is indeed a good option
G says
We use beeswax food wraps (great for wrapping up cheese blocks, avocado halves, etc.) instead of plastic wrap and silicone pan/muffin liners instead of parchment paper. It is a bit of an investment at first, but once purchased, you are good to go for a very long time! I also like to buy these kinds of things for gifts 🙂
I have also tried to stop buying products that come in ridiculous over-sized packaging. I do realize this can be trickier if you have kids and rely on the convenience of individually wrapped items… However, every little bit counts! 🙂
The Many Thoughts of a Reader says
We have a large garden and have apple and peach trees. However, last summer most of our vegetables were ruined because of the amount of rain we had all spring/summer. We are totally re doing our large garden area this spring in hopes of fixing it. We save veggie scraps in the freezer and when we have a full bag we use the pressure cooker and make vegetable broth. I usually then make a veggie soup with some of it and then we freeze the broth for later. We always put some in a ice cube tray so we can have small amounts if needed or a quick lunch. We then take those veggies and dump them on the garden or to the side out in our woods. We need to do better on the plastic/paper towel route but my husband is a resistant.
Paula says
I bought some of those silicone stretchy covers for bowls. I always seem to have a bit of salad or chicken or our bowl of boiled eggs that needed a plastic wrap top and found that I was hating using that much plastic wrap. Also some of my glass Pyrex bowl lids have cracked over time. The ones I bought work great although I have a few bowls that are in between sizes and they don’t stretch enough. I have one that even covers a small glass. Saving so much single use plastic wrap makes me feel good. I also use old t-shirt rags for cleaning.
Tara says
I try to use a vinegar/water mix to clean everything I can (fruit/veggies, the floors so my dogs dont get sick from toxics they walk on and lick, bathroom, kitchen, mirors). My husband cannot stand the smell but its a great alternative and cheaper than all those commercial cleaners.