5 Kitchen Products for a More Sustainable Home

Forget what the haters say. Sustainability is about the journey, not the destination. There may be many paths to that destination, but we have found that building a more sustainable kitchen is an iterative process of discovery, learning, and implementation. Testing. Evaluating. And re-evaluating.

Try something. See if it works. And then measure the impact (shoutout to the scientific method). With this mindset, we are trying our best to do a better job of championing sustainability in the kitchen and making it a part of our daily lives. Over the past year, we’ve been scouring the Internet and the Amazon discovery page to find what works best for us. This is a list of what we’ve found to work best for us and inspire subsequent action to reduce waste in our home. Full disclosure: These products link back to our Amazon affiliate page, so we will receive commission for each transaction (please purchase through the link to support!). But at the end of the day, we did all the work so you do not have to. Here are 5 kitchen products for a more sustainable home:

Beeswax Wrap

You know what they say about saving the environment? It’s the bee’s knees!

Quick sidebar - Has this phrase ever been used unironically or are we too young to appreciate it sincerely? We’re genuinely curious.

Now that’s out of the way, back to our regularly scheduled blog post. For the home cook, plastic wrap is a pretty great invention. It preserves your scraps and leftover foods to be used another day. It’s accessible and even easier to get rid over.

For the planet, on the other hand, it is exact opposite. It doesn’t degrade naturally and isn’t reusable. Because of that it is one of the most common sources of kitchen waste.

If only there was some sustainable product that could be used to cover raw fruits and vegetables in the refrigerator….

Enter Beeswax wrap.

That’s right there’s an environmentally friendly alternative to plastic wrap that’s made from natural materials AND helps to save the bees. It’s basically everything you could want in a niche kitchen product.

We’ve been using our set of Beeswax wrap for the past 6 months, and we’ve been thoroughly impressed with how robust and effective it has been. Not only does it do an excellent job sealing and preserving fresh fruits and vegetables, but it has not lost those properties over time. We note that distinction because durability is just as important as the primary function for successful sustainable products.

Regularly replacing a defective item is both an inconvenience to the home cooks and the planet. Beeswax wrap is designed with this in mind and has an expected useful life of about on year. For us, beeswax wrap has been a viable alternative to plastic wrap and keeps giving us new value with each use (it is perfect for covering leftover sandwiches too by the way).

For what it’s designed to do, it’s nearly perfect. But, please remember, do not slice your fruits and vegetables on it. It’s a wrapper, not a cutting board (definitely not speaking from personal experience here…)

Vejibag

In our view, a sustainable kitchen includes a balance between two elements: minimizing man-made waste from grocery shopping and maximizing food consumption by using more of what you have.

Understanding this framework is helpful in selecting more sustainable products. For us, the goal is to use these objects to inspire better kitchen practices. It’s what we in the engineering world call a “positive feedback loop.” Find something that helps reduce waste. Without the excess goods, you are more reliant on what you have. Using what you have then means you stop generating more waste.

Now you may be wondering what this all has to do with Vejibags.

While it may seem like we are projecting our trauma are from our undergrad degrees in engineering onto this blog post (our graduate degrees for engineering are currently tormenting us thanks for asking), Vejibags are such a textbook example of that phenomena, it would make our engineering professors proud (sorry we did it again).

The brilliance of Vejibags is in its effectiveness. It simultaneously eliminates the use of plastic bags and extends the shelf life of its contents. By taking the cloth bag and running it under water, it creates a humid environment that vegetables fresh and crisp for longer compared to the traditional refrigerator storage methods.

While it may seem pricey for “just a vegetable bag,” we swear by that effectiveness. In our eyes, it’s already paid for itself. There have been multiple instances this year in which we would open our Vejibags and find useful greens and herbs that otherwise would have spoiled. That’s right. We are reducing our food waste not through personal responsibility, but through sustainable products. Thank you, Vejibag.

Mesh produce bag

The idea of a mesh produce bag may seem basic to some, but we want to share our insight into how to make them more useful. Buy more of them.

We’re aware this seems counterintuitive (buy more of a thing to use less of another thing). But we’ve learned it the hard way. Overabundance of mesh produce bags was the best way for us to eliminate use of grocery store plastics.

Let us explain.

The issue has never been with the bags themselves. They are great. They fit nicely in a reusable tote or backpack and are more than sufficiently sized to pack larger quantities of fruits and vegetables. They are durable and do not rip or tear easily. Additionally, they are incredibly versatile. We’ve been using ours to store our fresh produce in the refrigerator. Not only does it keep things fresh (without using plastic), it unintentionally forces you to keep your fridge more organized (Marie Kondo would be proud).

Also for what it’s worth, we’ve used ours before in place of a cheese cloth to strain liquids. If you’re in a pinch (like we were), it works REALLY well!

So after this glowing endorsement of the product’s performance, you may have forgotten our issue with the mesh produce bags. Again, functionality not the issue.

Instead, we were our biggest obstacle. Only having a few bags means that there might not be a not free bags ready for your grocery runs (you know, since they are holding your food). Additionally, we found it difficult to remember to bring them with us. Maybe we’re a little more forgetful than the average, but we never reached the point of “phone, wallet, keys, my only mesh bag.” To make mesh produce bags a staple in your life, we’d recommend having a lot of them (probably twice what you use).

Leave one in your car. Leave one in your tote. Leave one in your backpack. Whatever you might bring with you to the store, leave one there.

Having an assortment of reusable produce makes makes it easier to incorporate sustainable actions seamlessly into your daily life. No longer is your environmental stewardship dependent on your short term memory. Do yourself the favor and buy two packs.

Glass Spray bottle

We’re all striving to zero waste, but at some point, you’re going to have to clean up your kitchen. Keeping the theme going, one small change to how you clean up may inspire a separate transition to a chemical-free home.

It all starts with a glass spray bottle. While chemical cleaners dominate the consumer market, there’s nothing stopping your kitchen from being clean AND sustainable. Take your glass spray bottle, fill it up with a natural cleaning solution, and start spraying! Not sure where to start on the search for natural cleaners? We can help you out.

We’ve been using a vinegar solution (8 parts water to 1 part distilled white vinegar) for most of our everyday surface cleaning. Vinegar prevents bacterial growth and is a natural disinfectant (FYI - it’s also cheaper than buying Clorox replacements).

Not into everything lightly smelling like vinegar? Then maybe try out a diluted baking soda solution! Either way, there’s a solution to fit your sense of smell. Cut out the plastic bottles and processed chemicals and embrace natural cleaners.

Also if you are proud plant parents like we are, they are PERFECT for daily mistings.

Tea infuser

Tea bags are great. They are very functional. Convenient. Great on the go. But at the same time, it creates additional waste with every serving.

For those interested in minimizing waste through their morning beverage choices, opting for a tea infuser over bagged tea is a impactful way of also inspiring more eco-conscious shopping.

At the end of the day, whether it is bagged or steeped in an infuser, we are ultimately consuming loose leaf tea. We offer that distinction to not that the preparation method should not change your enjoyment of your favorite teas. If anything, it should enhance your love and appreciation for it. The commercially available loose leaf teas are often a higher quality and more fresh than the bagged varieties.

While it is tough to compete with the convenience of bagged teas, the tea infuser comes in a close second. It’s as simple as following the product instructions. Insert tea leaves. Add water. Wait a couple minutes. Enjoy your tea.

Come on, you can do that. Think of it as part of your wellness plan for 2020. You deserve the very best, and a tea infuser is the best way to treat yourself to the best drinks everyday.

Let us know in the comments what steps you’ve taken to make your kitchen more sustainable!