If you are looking to start implementing sustainable choices into your life, the kitchen might be one of the best places to start. Not surprisingly, the kitchen is where most people have the largest trash can in the house because of the amount of garbage generated in this room. This trash would most likely end up in a landfill, producing a large amount of methane, a greenhouse gas, which is dozens of times more impactful for climate change than CO2. I won't be going into the details in terms of physics and numbers in this article, but will give you a few options on how to be more eco-friendly in your kitchen, as well as break down the cost benefits associated with some of these choices.
The items I'm going to talk about here:
1. Reusable cloth towels.
2. Recycled or bamboo paper towels.
3. Reusable resealable silicone bags.
4. Reusable bees wax wraps.
1. Reusable cloth towels instead of paper towels.
One of my favorite sustainable swaps in the kitchen, and perhaps one of the easiest ones to implement, is switching from paper towels to reusable cloth towels. It may seem that paper towels are a somewhat natural product and shouldn't have that much of an impact on the environment, but let's think about the entire process for a moment.
Most paper towels are made of trees, which negatively impacts the habitat and depletes the soils where those trees are grown;
Large amounts of water are used during the production;
Paper towels are usually sold in plastic wraps;
CO2 emissions are produced during both the production and delivery to retailers, households and businesses;
Since most paper towels are contaminated with food or other non-paper particles, they can't be recycled and end up in the landfill.
So many hidden non-eco-friendly effects, wouldn't you agree? Before you run to the store to buy those kitchen towels, I have some tips that I hope would make it easy for you to make the transition. These are from my own experience; they are pretty basic but worth mentioning:
Get a few packs of simple dish towels:
- Ideally, with print that would hide food stains which might not come out;
- Perfect fabric types are cotton, linen or bamboo - they are most absorbent as well as most natural and eco-friendly. Microfiber cloths are also an option as they are extremely absorbent and easy to clean, yet they don't biodegrade unlike other types of fabric listed above;
- You can find inexpensive options, for less than $1 per towel, which would still look pretty, and work perfectly;
- Or you can get branded towels or the ones made of recycled fibers (most sustainable option), the choice is yours!
Store clean towels in a drawer close to sink for easy accessibility.
Set up a basket or a hamper under the sink where you can easily drop soiled towels.
Lightly soiled towels can be rinsed off, dried and reused before you throw them into the hamper.
Depending on the usage and number of towels you get, you might need to do one load of laundry every 4-8 weeks. The fabric types I mentioned above dry quickly enough, so you can opt to air dry them rather than using a machine dryer.
Not only is it a convenient sustainable swap, it also comes with great cost savings! Cutting down from 8 rolls to only 1 per month could save you $100-150 every year, even after accounting for the laundry cost.
2. Recycled or bamboo paper towels over traditional paper towels.
Enough said about the paper towels above, but you may continue using some paper towels from time to time for certain things. In this case, opting for recycled paper towels is the most eco-responsible choice, because no new fiber is involved in production of recycled paper compared to regular paper towels. As an alternative, bamboo paper towels are also considered a greener option because bamboo grows quickly and is better for the soil when compared to regular trees which deplete soil significantly.
3. Reusable resealable silicone bags over plastic disposable ziplock bags.
There is a significant harm to our bodies and to the environment that comes from plastics, this is a well-known fact. Besides, plastics are produced from oil, which is a finite product in the environment, at least at the speed that we are using it now. And here comes the most common misconception: "I recycle single-use plastics". Well, ziplocks usually get contaminated with food particles and shouldn't be disposed of in a recycling bin, unless you wash them after using (which defeats the purpose of ziplocks being single-use/easily disposable items). But most importantly, only 9% of plastics that are disposed in the U.S. get recycled. If this is a surprising fact for you, here are a few main reasons for this:
Plastics can only be recycled 2-3 times;
Recycling facilities are not available in certain areas, or recycling machinery available does not support certain recyclables;
Many recycling batches get contaminated with items that are not recyclable and the entire batch may be unusable due to such contamination.
Hopefully, I made the point with single-use plastics, yet still sometimes it seems that they are difficult to avoid. I notice that ziplocks are one of the items that are rarely thought of as "avoidable", but they are! Reusable resealable silicone bags are a great alternative:
You can zip them open and close just like the plastic ziplock bags;
They are sturdy enough to last you a really long time (how long? Well, I didn't have a need to dispose of any of my silicone bags since I bought them, but once I do, I promise to update this article!);
They are easily washable and are easy to dry - I even throw mine into the dishwasher (standing up with the open side down, and only using non-heated water) - it's not recommended by the manufacturer, but they don't seem to get damaged, non-heated water is the key;
Silicones, unlike many plastic products are BPA-free, and are food-grade. I would still recommend to make sure this is specified in the product description when you buy them.
Depending on your current usage of plastic disposable ziplocks, this eco-friendly swap could save you hundreds of dollars over the years.
4. Reusable bees wax wraps over plastic wrap.
Have you ever noticed that food sometimes changes its taste after staying in a plastic container or being wrapped in plastic wrap? Plastic leaches out toxins that are harmful to human bodies, nevertheless, most U.S. consumers fall victim to the advertisements and have plastic wrap on their shopping lists consistently. Many haven't even heard about its safe-for-our-health alternative - bees wax wraps. Here is what's good about them:
Bees wax wraps are all-natural, usually made of non-synthetic fabric covered with bees wax;
They are reusable, and easy to clean and dry: just wash them with soapy water and a soft sponge, then dry with kitchen towels;
Bees wax has a natural clinginess, just like that of plastic wrap;
They are long-lasting; after several months of using them you may find that they lost the layer of bees wax, but you can easily use the bar of wax that often comes with the pack to update them and use for many months again.
And yet again, this eco-friendly alternative comes with financial benefits. A pack of bees wax wrap (at as little as $10) which could last you about a year would replace several rolls of plastic wrap.
If you are in the beginning of your journey transitioning to a low-waste sustainable lifestyle, these are some great sustainable swaps that you can easily start with. They are easy to implement, don't create inconvenience compared to their non-sustainable alternatives, and after all, they reward you with some savings.
Stay tuned for part two! 😉
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