The kitchen is a really, really big mountain to climb. It is without doubt the hardest room to reduce plastic use and as I said earlier this week, I have by no means worked out how to swap everything we would like to eat. But you have to start somewhere and we have made great progress.
Many of your swaps in the kitchen will not only depend on your budget but on the amount of time you have available to go shopping and prepare your food. If you shop online and get a weekly grocery order, then I would imagine it is going to be harder to become plastic free. If you already regularly go to various different supermarkets or the local market to source the best prices or certain types of products, you might be more inclined to shop around to find the plastic free alternatives.
Prior to this challenge, we shopped in Tesco and Aldi. Now, I go to the local greengrocers on a Saturday morning whenever I can and Paul goes to Tesco. Rarely do I go to Aldi as it is pure plastic overload! It doesn’t always work out, some weeks are better than others. But, we are trying our best and that, as my dad would say, is all you can do!
Half the time when in the supermarket, the swaps are dependent on what you can find. Up until now you may not have even thought about what you regularly blindly throw into the trolley. As soon as you start to have a look around to find alternatives, you may be surprised or horrified in equal measure!
If you decide you want to make an effort to swap items, go to the supermarket at a quiet time, when you have time to look around and make decisions about what you are going to buy. It may seem daunting at this point, but try to focus on the items you buy regularly. If, every week, you buy apples and potatoes in plastic bags at the moment, try swapping them to loose ones. Although it sounds small the regular purchases you make will make the biggest difference.
Same or cheaper
Tupperware to avoid cling film and sandwich bags
Cling film and sandwich bags are non-recyclable plastics that when put in the recycling bin will snag up the machinery.
A very easy way to stop using cling film when putting items in the fridge is to start using your Tupperware with lids to store food. Tupperware can also be used to pack up sandwiches and put things in the freezer instead of using sandwich bags. Reuse tubs such as ice cream containers or spend a moment thinking about what you regularly store and invest in some more robust Tupperware or Pyrex containers that are perfect for the job – that way you will use it all the more.
Kitchen roll
Although this doesn’t technically come under the plastic free banner, a lot of waste is created by using this product. In order to waste less and slim the landfill bin, it is a good idea to find alternatives wherever possible. At home, we do still have a roll on the side but one roll now lasts us an incredibly long time as I have a pile of cotton cloths that I use and if necessary put straight in the washing machine.
Fat catcher
Again not necessarily something that comes under the plastic free banner, but nevertheless something that would definitely help our sewers which are becoming increasingly blocked with fat-burgs. You can buy cardboard fat catchers which get put in your landfill bin once full. Personally, I use a large glass jar to collect up the fat from cooking and basically spoon it in until it is full. Yes, it means a glass jar is going into landfill, but by using a container with a lid it means there is no smell and I choose a large jar so I am only using one jar for several months.
Silicone baking mats to avoid foil
The meters and meters of foil that are used under the grill or in the oven every week across the country is probably huge! By buying three different sized baking mats, I rarely ever use foil anymore. The mats fit in the grill tray, on baking sheets and in cake tins. After use, you simply scrap of the excess fat into your fat catcher and wash them in warm soapy water. If cared for they will last for years to come. They come in various sizes so do check the size of your favourite baking trays first as some American manufactured ones are huge!
Workday lunches
It is easy to get into bad habits of picking up a sandwich or packet salad to eat at work. If you add up the amount of packaging that would produce, the majority of which you won't recycle as you are at work, it starts to make quite a pile. Making lunch for yourself might mean a bit of organisation and preparation but it will be much easier to make it predominantly plastic free and I would argue tastier and healthier.
Obviously you need to think about the products that you are using to make your lunch - as if you use a regular loaf of bread, margarine, processed ham and a bag of lettuce to make your sandwich then you haven't really changed a thing. If however, you buy loose rolls, skip the marg and use mayonnaise from a glass jar, buy cheese from the counter in your own tub, a loose tomato and grow your own lettuce - well that is a huge change!
Slightly greater cost
Milk from the milkman
It was recently very strange having to teach an 8 year old guest how to get into a glass milk bottle the other day at our breakfast table! Another item from the past that the younger generation have never seen before - well not for long as milkmen are back in fashion! Glass bottles from the milkman are more expensive than a pint in the supermarket (80p versus 50p). Nothing I can really say about that! It is a case of whether you want to make a change to glass bottles that get reused again and again and again.
Fruit and vegetables
The vast majority of people buy their fruit and veg in plastic wrappers for convenience. In some supermarkets, there is no other way and in most the loose produce is more expensive or of a far inferior quality. However, if you want to make a change, buying loose produce cuts out huge amounts of un-recyclable plastic. Weighting your produce and putting it in a reusable bag is easy enough if you use the self scan/self serve options available in many stores. Make or buy yourself some material reusable bags and you are bound to start a conversation in the queue! These can be thrown in the washing machine if necessary and will last a long, long time.
An easy way to find plastic free produce is to visit a local market, greengrocer or farm shop. It might take you a while to work out which stall sells the best produce that will last you the week but they will happily put it straight into your own bags. A little tick for supporting the local economy as well.
Another alternative is to order a veg box. There are now many different companies around the country, delivering a box of seasonal veg to your door. It is a great way to try out new produce that you might not ordinarily go for and some even give you a recipe card to help you cook it correctly. They vary in price, so have a good search and ask neighbours if they know of any local deliveries.
Finally, if you want to go one step further you could start growing your own. This year I tried lettuce, spinach, tomatoes and green beans – as they are all products that are hard to find plastic free. Most worked very easily, and I might even expand my choices this year. I am not getting an allotment any time soon though!
Tea
Tea bags are fused with a plastic glue meaning that when we put them in the compost this plastic will be present in the matter created. Worse still though is the thought that potentially traces of this plastic could be in your tea. Loose tea is now more readily available at supermarkets or other brands such as tea pigs bags don’t use plastic. I bought a cute little single cup tea infuser which works well with mint tea leaves or actual leaves from the garden.
Glass jars and tin cans
Many different products are still sold in glass jars or tin cans, it is just that sadly they do often cost a little bit more. Ketchup, mayonnaise, olives for example all come in glass jars. I have also swapped from frozen peas and sweetcorn, which normally come in an unrecyclable bag, back to canned varieties. Have a look around next time you are shopping to see if this is a swap you can make for the sake of a few pence.
Check out Recycle Now for more information on why glass and cans are better for the environment.
Cardboard packaged foods
This is often a tricky one as you cannot always see what is inside the box and it is not always the case that a particular company stocks all their products in the same way. I recently bought two different flavours of Young's Gastro frozen fish thinking they were only in cardboard. One simply had the fillets of fish inside and the other had each fillet vacuum packed in plastic. An easy way to find out what's on the inside is to look for the ‘how to recycle’ information on the packet. If it separates paper and plastic then you know there is some on the inside!
Many boxes come with a small cellophane window. Try to remember to rip this off before putting the cardboard in the recycling bin.
Using your own container at the deli counter of the supermarket
Many supermarkets have now advertised that you can use your own containers when buying from their deli, meat or cheese counters. In reality, it seems to very much depend on the store and the person serving you. I have been outright refused and allowed to use my own container in the same store on different days - so who knows what the 'company policy' actually is. In one supermarket they refused to cut me a lump of cheese as they said they were all pre-cut and in the fridge (covered in cling film). Another said they could only do cooked meats in this way and only if I had a clip close lid. It might take a while for employees to catch on to what people want and why they are asking for this service but if more people ask them hopefully that will happen sooner.
Potential greater cost in outlay at start
Beeswax Wraps
I’ve already mentioned the demon that is cling film. It is a plastic that cannot be recycled and will never rot away. When putting items in the fridge or wanting to protect food whilst on the side, we often think nothing of pulling out sheets of this product, only to throw it away moments later.
Beeswax wraps are a sheet of material with a coating of beeswax. When warmed by the heat of your hands they will mould and remain in shape around a plate, bowl or item of food, such as half a tomato or a sandwich. They come in different shapes and sizes to be used in different ways eg circle for a bowl, made into a sandwich bag.
Initially, they are obviously far more expensive than a roll of cling film. However, in terms of eliminating a non-recyclable plastic then they work fantastically well.
To make it cheaper you could always have a go at making some yourself - if you can get hold of some beeswax! Just look on YouTube for many different 'How To' clips.
I hope there are a couple of ideas that you can take from today's post to get you started on cutting out excessive packaging and waste. Tomorrow we clean up with some products to make the house sparkle!