The idea of reducing our impact on the planet seems daunting. Don’t stress yourself out: an ideal place to start eco-friendly practices in your home is in your kitchen.
You can start with small things like reducing your waste and replacing a few single-use disposable products you use with more sustainable, eco-friendly ones. To get started, here are a few kitchen essentials that could double as sustainable options:
Reusable kitchen towels
Paper towels in the kitchen can be convenient, but they can easily build up into a big pile of trash. Reusable kitchen towels are just as effective in cleaning up spills and kitchen mishaps without creating nearly as much waste as disposable towels. Reusable paper towels can be made of bamboo and cotton, cellulose sponge, or microfiber, which often require fewer raw materials.
Beeswax food wraps
If you’re the type to prepare meals to-go or store leftovers, you can trade single-use plastic cling film or aluminum wrap for beeswax food wraps. These self-adhesive and reusable pieces of fabric, made of organic cotton coated with beeswax, jojoba oil and resin, can be used to wrap sandwiches, cover bowls, or simply wrap half-cut ingredients. With regular use and proper care, these food wraps can last for at least a year.
Non-disposable coffee makers
Switching to eco-friendlier coffee brewing methods, such as French press, stovetop espresso maker or AeroPress, can help reduce waste as they don’t need filters. If you still prefer pour-over, you can also switch out your single-use disposable filters to reusable cloth filters. Leftover coffee grinds can then be added to plants instead of being thrown out since they double as good fertilizer.
Compost bins
A great way to round out a kitchen’s sustainability is to be able to turn your leftover food waste into enriching food for your plants in the form of compost. If you find the idea of composting too intimidating, the bokashi bin is a beginner-friendly step. It is ideal for compact spaces, works with more food wastes, including fats, meat, bones, and dairy, and gives off less odor unlike its traditional counterparts.
LPG kitchen fuel
The fuel you choose to use for cooking may not seem like an important sustainability choice but every little step to reducing waste and energy consumption can make a difference. LPG is regarded as a clean cooking fuel as it emits less carbon dioxide and is considered a more sustainable fuel substitute than kerosene, charcoal, or fuelwood.
LPG brands like Solane LPG have invested in ways to make their products more sustainable, such as creating the Bioseal, the first of its kind biodegradable LPG seal in the country. Unique to authentic Solane LPG products, the bioseal only takes five to 10 years to decompose compared to the 500 to 1,000 years common LPG plastic seals take.
While these changes may seem small, when done together, they can impact how much you reduce waste or energy consumption. Sustainable practices do not have to come in the form of sweeping changes — realistic ways to make your kitchen eco-friendly can go a long way in your journey of being kinder to the earth.