TUGI
  • Home
  • About
    • Youth Executive Committee
    • Our Impact
    • Chapter Map
    • Contact
  • Get Involved
    • Start a Chapter
    • Volunteer
    • Sponsor
    • Schools
  • Blog
  • Curriculum
    • Modules
    • Activities
    • Recipes
    • YouTube Videos
    • How to Start a Garden
  • Donate
  • Shop
  • Home
  • About
    • Youth Executive Committee
    • Our Impact
    • Chapter Map
    • Contact
  • Get Involved
    • Start a Chapter
    • Volunteer
    • Sponsor
    • Schools
  • Blog
  • Curriculum
    • Modules
    • Activities
    • Recipes
    • YouTube Videos
    • How to Start a Garden
  • Donate
  • Shop

 

How to be Sustainable in Your Kitchen

1/12/2021

3 Comments

 
Picture
Jacqueline Regan 

One of the places in the home that we, as a society, spend the most time is our kitchen. Between dishes, groceries, and hundreds of meals, we produce a lot of waste.There are some simple but effective ways to reduce waste in your kitchen that will help not only your wallet, but our beautiful planet, too.
Many people are unaware of the effects of every-day items on our planet and our bodies. Regular dish soaps can pollute waterways and negatively affect our bodies. This is why the first thing you can do to attain a more sustainable kitchen is to use biodegradable soap. Brands like Dr. Bronners make excellent and affordable options. The best part about this is that it is a concentrated soap and can be diluted with water, which prolongs the usability of the soap and saves money and plastic. It also serves many purposes in your kitchen, from hand soap to vegetable wash, which makes it a kitchen staple. 
Another cleaning product that comes highly recommended is the natural sponge. Regular kitchen sponges often contain several types of plastics that take hundreds of years to decompose. A great alternative to this option are sponges made from natural fibers, such as coconut or loofah sponges. These fibers and sponges exist naturally and decompose in a much safer way to our planet than their plastic-based peers. If you take care of these sponges and disinfect them often, they can live a long and helpful life in your kitchen. 
There are also lots of reusable paper towel options. On the market right now there is everything from bamboo fiber based cloths to beeswax food wraps. However, a less well known option arguably is the most effective, and that is the squeegee. The squeegee is the perfect alternative to paper towels for cleaning any solid, flat surface, including windows and countertops. You can wipe and clean surfaces with your kitchen sponge with some product, and wipe away clean with the squeegee. Not only will you save money in the long run by not repurchasing paper towels each week, but you will never waste another paper towel cleaning up your dish-washing countertop mess again!
There are also ways you can use less single use plastics in your kitchen. When grocery shopping, opt for reusable bags and select products without one-time use plastic wrapping as opposed to their counterparts. You can also reduce waste by investing in glass tupperware containers and silicone, reusable sandwich bags. The glass tupperware will last years longer than the plastic options, and they are safer to eat out of because they don’t allow microplastics to leach into your food. All of these options will save you money in the long run as well, which is an added benefit.
Something important to note is that these are useful alternatives to the less sustainable parts of your kitchen, but only after you have used your current products to the fullest extent. It is far more sustainable to use your current dish sponge for another month than throwing it away and buying a natural one. Even when you decide to invest in new products, try to repurpose your old items before throwing them away, like how old plastic tupperware without lids can be used as drawer organizers. There are endless possibilities for repurposing and reusing items as much as possible before ending their lives in our homes. Doing this helps the planet astronomically and it will help you save money.
3 Comments
commercial kitchen cleaning link
11/25/2021 05:10:32 am

Cleaning and sanitizing commercial kitchens may appear to be an endless process, but it is critical for the health and safety of your customers and employees. And wouldn't it be lovely if you didn't have to squirm in fear every time the health inspector paid an unannounced visit? Maintaining high cleanliness standards is a goal that may be achieved, but it requires education, defined standards, and commitment on the part of both personnel and management. Having the correct processes, resources, and tools in place not only makes these goals easier to achieve, but it also saves time and perhaps decreases loss due to the issues that a lack of cleanliness can cause.

Reply
MckinneyVia link
8/16/2022 09:36:04 pm

What an exquisite article! Your post is very helpful right now. Thank you for sharing this informative one.

Reply
Jones Brown link
9/22/2022 09:29:30 pm

We can be sustainable in any term in life if we want to. Can you tell me about clothing sustainability?

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    TUGI

    Welcome to Seeds for Thought, the TUGI Blog where we will be highlighting incredible stories of environmental activists and change makers, environmental news, and tips to living a more green and sustainable lifestyle. If you are interested in learning more about what we are doing on a monthly basis, subscribe to our TUGI Newsletter. 

    Archives

    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    January 2020
    October 2019
    August 2019

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

TUGI
Inspire and empower youth to achieve urban sustainability through a gardening-based educational program. 

Learn More

Donate
100% of your donations goes into providing the urban gardening kits to students.

Connect

Picture
Start a garden
All proceeds from your donation will benefit The Urban Garden Initiative Corporation. The organization is approved and recognized as a 501(c)(3), nonprofit organization with tax ID # EIN 84-2296578.