The Easy Way to Create a Plastic Free Kitchen
Learn some simple, easy and affordable ways to easily create a plastic free kitchen.
Have you watched the Netflix Series “History 101”? I remember lying in bed late Thursday night when I watching the 4th episode “Plastics”, when they shocked me with an alarming statistic that I was completely unaware of…
1 Plastic Bottle … can take up to 450 years to decompose! That means if I were to drink water from a plastic bottle that wasn’t ‘degradable’ or ‘biodegradable’ today… In the year 2470 would it finally be compost!
Now, I’m not going to dive into the deep end and become a full blown environmental activist … but it did make me reconsider some aspects in my home that are plastic which are not ‘degradable’ or ‘biodegradable’ and generally single-use. (My favourite one I always use is the cling wraps for leftovers.)
The kitchen can be one of the biggest culprits in the home for attracting plastic waste from; plastic wraps, to shopping bags to food wrapping. Working towards reducing single-use plastic is a powerful step forward to Living Clean.
So after doing some quick Google searches, here are a few tips I found to reducing the plastics in the kitchen that are simple, easy and affordable;
- Ditch the plastic wraps and commit to using beeswax wraps. Beeswax wraps are reusable and a sustainable alternative to plastic wraps. If you wish not to use animal products then washable containers with lids.
- Take reusable shopping and produce bags to do the food shopping. I personally found it frustrating when a sharp corner of a product pierces the plastic bag and now I’m contorting my body to prevent the whole contents from spilling onto the ground
- As I know now, plastic bottles can take up to 450 years to decompose, so why not try and use washable drink containers instead.
- BBQ with friends and family? — invest in washable picnic dinnerware and cutlery and enjoy the fun in the sun.
- Homemade school lunches made from fresh, high-quality ingredients rather than overly processed food wrapped in all kinds of plastics.
No need to be a full-time environmental warrior to make a real difference. Every little bit counts to take the first steps to Living Clean. All it takes are small actions which lead to big changes.
P.S — I was recently talking to a friend and she mentioned to me, that is a different between ‘Degradable’ and ‘Biodegradable’.
Biodegradable means that it can be broken down by living things like bacteria and fungi.
Degradable means they do not require living organisms to break down. Instead, chemical additives are used in the plastic to make it crumble more quickly than it would otherwise.
So before throwing plastics away, check to see if it belongs in the compost or in the recycling bin.
