The Plastic-Free Kitchen
Kitchens are magnets for single-use packaging, but there are amazing alternatives for stocking and storing our food
Karin Elgai
A couple of weeks ago I attended Grouphug’s Thursday webinar on Zero Waste living. I consider myself to be pretty knowledgeable on the topic *hair flip*, but I feel like there’s always room for improvement. Nobody does zero waste perfectly.
And that’s the first thing that was mentioned: NOBODY DOES ZERO WASTE PERFECTLY. Before we dive into the waste-free-ish kitchen, I really want to stress that this entire journey is about progress, not perfection.
I also want to emphasize that waste reduction is a privilege that often requires a monetary investment. Maybe the waste-free route is a more affordable solution in the long run, but for many, covering the up-front costs isn’t an option. So please approach your waste reduction journey as your own. Share your advice and finds, but don’t give others a hard time for choosing more affordable solutions, even if those choices might be polluting. Single-use plastic was designed to be available and convenient. Blame the system, not the consumer.
In my journey, I’ve found that the kitchen is one of the most plastic and trash-heavy areas in my home. Whether it was takeout containers (that doubled, if not tripled, after I had a baby), cling wrap, food packaging, and food scraps, it all added up so quickly. And while a lot ended up in our recycling bin, I’ve learned that only about 18% of what New Yorkers throw away is being recycled.
So what’s the right approach? Nicole Grossberg of Zero Waste NYC Workshop breaks it down to the 5 Rs: Refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, rot. I will focus on refuse, reuse, rot, and recipes (my additional “r”) in this column, and share some favorite solutions that I use daily.
Disclaimer: As always, none of the companies mentioned below pay me to review them, nor do they provide me with free products or discounted goods. Every review here reflects my personal experience with products that I’ve purchased with my own money.
1. Refuse
I can’t stress enough how important REFUSING is. I try to always choose the package-free option if I’m able. This means buying individual potatoes and onions vs. pre-packed in plastic netting, saying no to a straw in a restaurant (unless you need it, of course), and saying NO to merchandise and freebies, which proves to be tougher than one would think. Who doesn’t love free shit?? But so often it’s stuff we don’t need and it just accumulates in our homes. Just say no.
2. Reuse
Grocery choices
When thinking about all of the single-use plastic in the grocery store, it’s challenging to even conceive of an alternative. We’ve all grown accustomed to the convenience offered by plastic. I believe it’s a habit worth breaking and some of the reusable grocery packaging services that I’ve found make shopping so much fun!
The Wally Shop and Loop offer a similar service. Both companies will provide you with goods in a zero-waste manner. And yes, I mean ZERO waste. From the shipping box to the containers holding the goods, everything is designed to be returned to the company once emptied into your own containers.
The main difference between the two companies is the brands in their inventory. Wally sells non-branded products like raw or roasted nuts, different flours, pasta, oils, honey, and items from smaller companies. Loop sells Haagen Dazs ice cream, Clorox Bleach, Pantene hair care, Febreze, Glaad, and other products from more recognizable brands, but these items all come in returnable containers instead of their usual single-use packaging. Both companies charge a fully returnable container deposit with each delivery and make the return process very easy.
We mainly use The Wally Shop, mostly because they carry more of the products we like, the delivery fee is significantly lower ($8.99 at Wally vs. $20 at Loop), and the packages can be easily emptied into our own jars and returned immediately (Loop requires you to use the products first before returning the empty containers). The Wally shopping experience also provides more information about lowering your carbon footprint.
Local Solutions
Another aspect of reducing waste via grocery choices is shopping from local vendors who provide refillable and returnable containers, or no containers at all. If you have a farmers market (or an indoor market, like Essex Market in NYC, which is 100% my happy place), you can usually bring your own bags for produce, find a dairy farm that sells milk in glass bottles that can be returned for a deposit (our local farm also offers a chocolate milk that's to die for), and even buy your oil and spices from a vendor that accepts or provides returnable/refillable bottles and containers.
Additionally, more and more stores that specialize in zero waste shopping are popping up! Precycle in NYC is my personal favorite (and they provide same or next day shipping) for anything from oils, hygiene products, pasta, produce, and so much more.
Cleaning Supplies
Cleancult (get 35% off via this link)
Unpaper Towels
When it comes to keeping the kitchen clean there are two main items we always used to have available: dishwasher tablets and paper towels. The dishwasher tablets would normally be purchased either in a hard plastic bucket or in a plastic bag with a resealable closure. The paper towels almost always arrive in a thin plastic wrap that can’t be reused and sadly isn’t recyclable in most places. Nowadays we still have these items in the kitchen, but we choose their zero-waste counterparts to cover those cleaning tasks.
Our dishwashing tablets (as well as all surface-cleaner and dish soap) are provided by Cleancult. They’re delivered in either paper envelopes or recyclable containers, and we’ve been using and loving them since June 2019.
For my massively wasteful paper towels habit, I’ve made the switch to the appropriately named Unpaper Towels. They are made of 100% cotton flannel and absorb any mess extremely well. They also last about a million washes, which I love since I used them all around the house.
They cling together easily, so you can set them up on a roll the same way you would have standard paper towels.
Baking Supplies and other equipment
I’ve always enjoyed baking and cooking and the pandemic and quarantine this past year forced my cooking into overdrive. It took me a while to realize how much waste was involved in baking. At first I used a lot of muffin liners and parchment paper, but I didn’t think too much of it. I was so militant against plastic that I forgot the simple fact that waste is waste.
I ordered reusable baking sheets and muffin liners from NetZero, an abundant online store for waste reduction products, and have loved them since. The best thing about them — besides the fact that they never end up in the trash — is that I never run out of muffin liners and baking mats. Like, never.
Take-out & Carry-out
DeliverZero (get $10 off via this link)
Friends, am I excited to tell you about this part or what!? Why?! Because the number of single-use containers that New Yorkers throw out every year is in the BILLIONS. The standard duration that a takeout container is actually used by a consumer can be measured in mere minutes before it goes on to spend several lifetimes in a landfill. While some takeout containers can be reused, they are not dishwasher safe or microwaveable. And for a very, very, very long time there wasn’t an alternative. Some restaurants would offer a biodegradable package or something that resembles a better choice by being brown and not plastic, but those paper containers are usually lined in plastic (to prevent the paper from sopping up liquid or letting the contents get cold). This usually means that these containers aren’t recyclable.
I honestly don’t remember how I’ve heard about DeliverZero, but I’ve been hooked since. The company provides a service that allows you to order takeout from local restaurants, but without any of the waste! Once used, the containers can either be returned to your courier on your next order or they can be dropped off at any restaurant that uses the service. The company cleans and sanitizes the boxes and then they’re back in circulation for thousands of uses. Using this service has been a daily staple in our home and I feel like this alone reduced our waste creation by SO MUCH!!
DeliverZero is only available in NYC currently, but shoot them a DM if you want to see them in your town. They’re expanding fast!
When I’m out and about (mostly pre-pandemic), I love carrying my Stojo cup for coffee and Porter bowl for food. The Stojo cup is collapsible and fits basically anywhere (and makes a great gift). Stojo also offers collapsible food bowls but they’ve been sold out since I’ve heard of them, so I haven’t had a chance to give them a try. My Porter bowl is used extremely often, whether at home or when I’m carrying food out. The bowl is designed with a silicone strap that keeps the lid in place, so I never have to worry about spills if I have any leftovers traveling with me.
Storage Solutions
If you’ve been a part of the waste reduction movement, you know the options are abundant when it comes to storage. It’s probably one of the earlier switches we’ve made at home, especially once we factored how many Ziploc bags we’ve gone through and threw out. This is especially a problem for parents because you often have to have a snack available with you while you’re out. For the longest time, Ziploc offered that convenience. I’m happy to report the alternatives are so much better.
The bags we've been using are provided either by Stasher or NetZero. Both are see-through and easy to clean, extremely safely sealed, and are freezer, dishwasher, oven, and microwave safe. The main difference between the two: I probably use Stasher more on the go and NetZero more at home, probably mostly due to appearance. I find Stasher bags to be prettier and NetZero a bit more tactical. NetZero also offers silicone sealing lids, which replace wax lids for us (because those didn’t seal too well in my experience). I’m proud to say I haven’t used a piece of cling wrap in a few years.
3. Rot (Composting)
I started composing recently (like, 2021 New Year’s resolution recent) but the Zero Waste webinar taught me so much about why it is really important. I originally thought, “Hey, this is organic matter. Should be cool to toss out.” Nope. As Nicole Grossberg puts it, “Diverting your food scraps is the biggest action you can take. When people ask me what’s one thing I can do? I always say compost.”
Grossberg explains that when food sits in landfills it emits methane (due to lack of access to oxygen), which is 72 times more potent than carbon dioxide and extremely damaging to the atmosphere. I had no idea food scraps could be that harmful.
I love composting because it forces me to see my food waste and reduce it, and encourages me to go to my local farmers market to deposit my scraps. I’ve been using old takeout containers (from my pre-DeliverZero days) until today. I was lucky enough to score some gorgeous metal containers from a neighbor at my local Buy Nothing Group and they are a stylish and welcome addition to our kitchen.
4. Recipes
It has been a challenge to find certain items free of plastic wrapping or packaging. I've put a good deal of effort into combing the vast resources of the internet. We were going through an elimination diet for my husband (he had to be strictly vegan), but we couldn’t find any vegan mayo in glass jars. I’m sure it’s out there, but it wasn’t at our local store. So, we made this very convincing, very easy recipe for vegan mayo. When it comes to non-dairy milk, we’ve tried this recipe for hazelnut milk (super fun to make and very enjoyable if you like hazelnuts).
My son has been favoring granola bars lately, so we’ve made these delicious bars, all with ingredients I got at The Wally Shop and Precycle. It’s so cool having a treat that is fully waste-free from start to finish! Be creative with your searches; the internet has recipes for just about anything.
Contact Your Stores
Changes in packaging can only be brought into the mainstream if consumers demand that it happens. We have phenomenal power in the choices we make because those choices show stores what works and what doesn’t. Is there a product you love that you dread buying because of the packaging? Write to the store or maker; most have a “contact us” section on their website or a person handling their incoming tweets and DMs. Let them know what you want to see.
The products I choose now are not only plastic-free, but are often made by smaller companies (many owned by women). Where we put our money is extremely important. Check out my Plastic-Free Bathroom Report, and keep an eye out for my posts about the changes I’ve made in my closet, cleaning habits around the house, birth and baby-related products, and my waste-free moving tips too.
If you choose to try any of the products I’ve mentioned, or go on your own plastic-free journey, I’d love to hear from you. What you do matters, where you shop matters, and how the products you use are made and shipped matters!
Editor: Karrie Witkin | Designer: Haley Burson | Photographer: Karin Elgai |Copywriter: Karrie Witkin | Copy Editor: Katie Frankowicz | Proofreader: Karrie Witkin
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