Getting a plastic-free kitchen with a few simple swaps

It was only in the 1950s that plastic started to become commonplace in our kitchens. Why not flip the switch and go back to the days when it wasn’t so common, and we instead found other ways to protect and maintain our food? With a few simple swaps, you can move towards a plastic-free kitchen.

5 swaps for a plastic-free kitchen

Here are five simple swaps you can start to make today to move towards a plastic-free kitchen and reduce the amount of plastic going to landfills.

Reuse old jars to store things like rice or flour

Whether it be pasta sauce, peanut butter or coffee, we have plenty of glass jars in our kitchens that we can wash out and reuse as storage containers. A glass jar is just as airtight and a more environmentally friendly storage option when we need to store our flour, rice, or other pantry items.

Beeswax or wax wraps to replace cling wrap

You can often find yourself wasting cling wrap even without thinking about the plastic factor. There aren’t many people that can say they’ve gotten a perfect piece of cling wrap off the roll every time without it sticking together or clumping up. Using an alternative such as beeswax wraps or cloth covers not only moves you towards a plastic-free kitchen but also reduces wastage.

Use reusable shopping bags for all shopping

Now that single-use plastic bags have been banned, we’ve all got kitchens or cars full of reusable shopping bags. But can you honestly say you use them for all your shopping? Or do you mainly use them for groceries, just getting the bag from other stores like clothes outlets or department stores? Making sure you’re using reusable bags for all shopping will help minimise the single-use plastic in our landfills.

Use reusable produce bags

We’re all quite good at having reusable bags for our groceries now, but what about the plastic bags we get our produce in? First of all, do you really need to pop your apples or banana or broccoli or carrots in a plastic bag? You’ll wash them when you get home anyway. If you do want to still keep your loose fruit and vegetables contained in a bag, grab some cloth reusable produce bags and make sure they’re always with your grocery bags.

Switch to bamboo brushes or eco sponges rather than plastic sponge clearing tools

Like in our bathroom, where we can switch our toothbrushes and hairbrushes to a bamboo alternative, you can do the same with your scrubbing brushes in the kitchen. There are also more sustainable and reusable options for your cleaning sponge or cloth available as well rather than the usual plastic ones.

We all know that the move towards a plastic-free kitchen may seem like an impossible task, but even making one of these swaps will help you on your way to living with less plastic. Do you have any other plastic-free suggestions for kitchens?