The kitchen is the hardest room in the house to reduce your plastic consumption. It doesn't help that the major supermarkets continue to wrap everything in single use plastic. How hard is it to find a cucumber that isn't wearing a suit of plastic.
A plastic-free kitchen means not buying new plastic. It's perfectly ok (and normal) to have plastic in your home - we all have a cupboard full of bags for life and old tupperware!
Our advise it to have a look in your bin. What do you currently throw away. What can you gradually change.
Switching out items gradually over time lowers the upfront cost and creates sustainable lifestyle changes that you’re more likely to stick with.
Here's our FOUR solutions to creating a more conscious kitchen.
1. Bin bags. 40% of what we put in the bin is food waste. If you separate this out then why need a bin liner at all. The alternative is to use a compostable liner.
Seep compostable bin liners are
Certified compostable (EN13432 and TUV Compost Home) - FSC recyclable packaging - High quality and reinforced to prevent leaking.
2. Stop using Kitchen paper towel. Did you know that to make to make one ton of paper towels, 17 trees are cut down and 20,000 gallons of water are consumed and polluted. Paper can also only be recycled 7 times. The paper typically used for kitchen towel made of recycled paper has come to its end of recycling - so it ends up in landfill.
Seeps drying cloths 2X Seep slogan tea-towels, Made with 100% certified organic cotton (GOTS), Dyed using water-based inks, 100% plastic-free,FSC recyclable packaging.
3. ECO Dishcloth - these are a fantastic alternative, I have a couple, extremely absorbent and so easy to use. Made Kind Set of 2 hand knitted dishcloths made from 100% cotton. these high quality cloths are made to last and in lovely coordinated colours make a useful addition to any kitchen.
4. Cleaning products - there are 3 choices
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Mix it yourself with Mix Clean Green. Most traditional or mainstream cleaning products are packaged in single-use plastic, have up to 95% water content and use chemicals that are toxic to humans and the environment. This creates huge amounts of plastic waste, a big carbon footprint in getting to your home and has a huge impact on the environment. And that is where Mix Clean Green cleaning products step in. No more paying for water to be transported, using toxic chemicals or single use plastic.
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Use recycled plastic bottles. Delphis Eco holds many awards - Certified B Corporation, holds the Royal warrant for HM The Queen & HRH Prince of Wales, the first UK manufacturer to achieve EU Ecolabel accreditation and are 100% made in UK.
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Reuse, Refill, Repeat. Made Kind products are free from harmful, toxic chemicals that damage the environment, and the refillable glass bottles support the vision that plastic pollution should be a thing of the past.
Whatever your choice its a great step in the right conscious direction. As we say at Generous APE a positive step forward is about "progress not perfection."