Three Ways To Make Your Kitchen More Sustainable

At Bearaby, we believe that the kitchen is one of the most important rooms in the house (right after the bedroom of course!) This is where we nourish ourselves and others. Where we relax and refuel. Where we prep food for the day and steep tea to unwind at night.

The kitchen, however, is also where we tend to accumulate some not-so-sustainable habits. Plastic containers and baggies, food waste, and toxic cleaners also find their home here, but we want to change all that.

We might be a weighted blanket brand, but Bearaby believes in making life healthier for us and the planet on all fronts. Let’s explore the world of our beloved kitchens and learn how we can all cook, eat, and clean a little more sustainably.

Sustainable Kitchen Tip #1: Shop Smarter

Sustainable kitchens start with sustainable shopping. Most of us don’t look forward to grocery shopping, and it’s easy to go for convenient, pre-packaged, and quick. However, what and where we buy matters.

What to Buy

The most sustainable and healthy options will be located along the perimeter of your grocery store. If you want to avoid manufactured and processed foods, you could skip the middle ailes and choose more fresh fruits and vegetables. Meat and dairy tend to consume more energy and produce more waste, so use these sparingly and focus on plant-based foods.

Choosing organic items is always a good option, but it’s not always feasible or economic for many families. The most important foods to buy organic are wine, coffee, apples, blueberries, dairy, corn, cucumbers, grapes, celery, and meats due to higher use of pesticides and hormones.

It’s important to shop seasonally and locally when available. Buying produce that’s in season and grown in your local region reduces the amount of energy wasted on transportation, shipping, and storage. They taste better, too!

Where to Buy

Knowing where to shop can be hard to determine, especially if you live in an area without easy access to big-chain alternatives. If there’s a local farmer’s market or co-op in your area, this is the best place to support your local neighbors, find excellent quality goods, and help reduce the strain on the environment.

How to Buy

Plastic and packaging is everywhere! Plastics are not only destructive to our planet, but they can leach harmful chemicals and microplastics into our foods. Shop smarter by bringing your own cloth produce bags and shopping bags. Avoid buying products that are packaged in plastic and choose glass or paper/cardboard packaging options instead. Buying in bulk reduces a great amount of packaging waste and is often easier on your wallet.

Sustainable Resources for Shopping Smarter

Photo by Shelley Pauls on Unsplash

 

• Want to know more about what to buy organic? Check out Health.com’s article on debunking healthy shopping.
• Check out LocalFarmMarkets.org to find your nearest local producers.
• Ditch plastic bags and use the reusable produce bags from Sister collective.

Sustainable Kitchen Tip #2: Waste Less Food

Once you’ve done your shopping, it’s time to make good use of the food you brought home. It’s estimated that the average household wastes about 20% of the food they buy. Worldwide, food loss creeps towards 30-40%. Not only is this a drain on our budgets, but it negatively impacts the environment. There are a few ways to become a sustainable kitchen ninja with your food and waste less.

How to Store Food

First, be sure to package and store properly. Storing your food properly will extend its life and give you more flavor. If you’re not sure you’ll get to use some of the produce you bought, consider storing it in the freezer. Many foods can be easily frozen and used in other ways later on.

Photo by Heather McKean on Unsplash

 

How to Use Food

The number one rule of sustainable cooking is use what you buy! Adapt your recipes to suit what you have on hand or consider a meal planning schedule.

Make leftovers your friend. Eating leftovers doesn’t mean having the same thing three nights in a row. Get creative and make something fresh and new. Having a stocked pantry comes in handy here. Having the basics ready to use gives us more flexibility and power to use our fresh foods well.

Finally, avoid ordering take out and cook for yourself as much as your schedule allows. This avoids packaging waste, delivery gas, and keeps you healthier.

Sustainable Resources for Wasting Less Food

• Become a leftover genie with the Kitchn’s Ultimate Guide to Using Leftovers
• Master the art of refrigerator storage with Real Simple’s guide
• Consider a tool like the Vitamix for chucking in leftover veggies for a blended soup or fruit for delicious smoothies.

Sustainable Kitchen Tip #3: Ditch Toxic Kitchen Foes

Plastics, plastics everywhere. This simple, cheap, and easy-to-use material has infiltrated our lives providing endless convenience, portability, and single-serve bliss. Unfortunately, there is a dark side to our beloved plastics. Research is finding that many of the plastics we use for food storage and packaging are dangerous to our health. These non-biodegradable plastics are also endlessly polluting our landfills and oceans, as plastic recycling is still limited.

The best way to avoid contributing to our plastics crisis is to reduce the plastic you bring into your home. Repurpose plastic food containers into storage for non-food items and replace them with glass, steel, or bamboo options. Avoid purchasing items stored in plastic and seek out alternatives with sustainable packaging.

As for plastic wrap and snack baggies, beware! There are many safer, environmentally friendly ways to protect and cover our food. Beeswax wraps, foil, and even linen can be used as a substitute for cling wraps on many items. Reusable silicone bags or bento boxes are fun alternatives for the evasive plastic baggie.

Aside from plastics, we have a few other kitchen culprits: namely toxic soaps and cleaners. Most conventional soaps and cleaners contain chemical compounds that we wouldn’t want to ingest, so let’s keep them out of the kitchen. Non-toxic, earth-friendly kitchen cleaners are widely available and easy to switch to.

Sustainable Resources for Ditching Kitchen Plastics

• Weangreen offers a variety of glass snap-lid containers that will revolutionize how you store your food.
• Beeswraps are simple-to-use plastic wrap alternatives made from fabric and – you guessed it – beeswax.
• Many grocery stores now carry more environmentally friendly cleaners, but if you like to DIY, try the kitchen cleaner recipe from Get Green Be Well.

A Sustainable Home, From The Kitchen To The Bedroom

As a company that’s been committed to sustainability from day one, we’re always on the lookout for ways to make everyday life a little more eco-friendly. From sustainable bedding to kitchen cleaners, we examine the big and small ways that we can make a difference. Living a conscious lifestyle involves not only making great choices for ourselves, but helping others make their best choices as well.

That’s why we’ve promised to keep our products and our entire supply chain plastic free. You won’t find any plastic wrapping or excess packing materials coming to your doorstep from Bearaby, not now, not ever.

We also only use natural fabrics, including organic cotton and the cooling eucalyptus fiber TENCEL™ in our weighted blankets. Sourced from raw wood pulp in a responsible closed loop process, TENCEL™ uses 10x less water than conventional fibers and is fully biodegradable.

Understanding how to live more sustainably can be stressful and overwhelming. From the bedroom to the kitchen, we’re here to support you in all your eco-conscious efforts.