Five Easy Low-Waste Kitchen Swaps
One of my "New Year's Resolution" this year is to live a sustainable lifestyle. I don't live a plastic-free, zero-waste life yet, cause guess what? change doesn't happen overnight. BUT, I have made conscious decisions and did some simple swaps in our home!
Reusable Water Bottle - Did you know that an average American uses 156 plastic bottles?¹ That doesn't sound like a lot, but that is 50 billion water bottles per year. Ditch your single-use plastic bottles with some reusable water bottles. I personally like stainless steel water bottles like this one below.
Reusable Shopping Bag - An estimate of four trillion plastic bags are used worldwide annually and only 1% of plastic bags are returned for recycling.¹ Save over 300 plastic bags annually by switching to reusable bags. Check-out this cute trendy net shopping bag.
NO Straw - It's crazy to think that we use half a million straws every day.¹ Eight million flows in the ocean every year and .025 percent of that is straws.² One of the main issues with straws is it cannot be recycled. Most plastic straws are also non-biodegradable and cannot be broken down naturally, and becomes harmful to animals, plants, and the environment.³ I have been refusing straws from restaurants for a while now. It doesn't matter if its plastic or paper, not to mention, I personally dislike paper or metal straws, so instead, I have been utilizing reusable water bottles or not use a straw at all.
Kitchen Towels - I stopped buying paper towels for a month now, and it definitely took some adjustments. Although it is paper and can be broken down, we also want to reduce our waste since we are not composting yet. And what is the best way to do this? Find and utilize Cloth Kitchen Towels that are washable and reuseable! You can even find a cute one at a thrift store!
Glass Food Containers - Instead of a Ziploc bag, we have been using glass containers to store food. Even though Ziploc Bags are recyclable, like plastic bags, these "recyclable" convenient bags often do not make it to recycling centers and end up in the landfill. According to PlasticBagLaw.Org, almost curbside recycling programs do not accept plastic bags - so plastic bags should be dropped off at grocery stores with plastic bag recycling programs.⁴ But how many of us actually do that? Glass Container is a great alternative and will keep your produce fresher!
Remember, change doesn't happen overnight, so take your time making little changes in your life. There will be good days, and there will be bad days. Never give up! Together, we can make a difference to our planet and protect it.
¹earthday.org | ²National Geographic | ³Association of Zoos & Aquariums | ⁴Plastic Bag Law Org
