In Britain we throw away 7.3 million tonnes of food waste each year, and generate over 40kg of plastic waste per household - mostly from our kitchens. So to help us to cut down on that waste, here are our top 10 tips for a waste-free kitchen.
1. Buy and cook only what you need
Our number 1 tip is simply to buy less and cook less. Buy only the amount of food that you know you’ll need until the next time you go shopping to reduce the amount of food that goes off before you can eat it. And avoid having leftovers in the fridge that never get eaten by cooking just the right portion size. To achieve this, meal planning can be really helpful - set yourself up a simple excel spreadsheet with all your favourite household meals and the ingredients needed for them, it pick the ones you’re going to cook for the next week, and then write your shopping list based on that instead of going shopping blind.
2. Keep vegetable scraps for stock
Keep the odds and ends of vegetables that are edible but don’t make the cut for cooking (broccoli stalks, carrot tops, potato peelings etc) in a tupperware box in your freezer, and once you have a box full boil them up to make vegetable broth - just pop them in a large pan, fill with boiling water, bring to the boil, simmer for 40 minutes, then drain.
3. Swap kitchen towels for cleaning rags
We know that kitchen towel is convenient for those inevitable spills, but it also creates unnecessary waste. Why not repurpose an old t-shirt to make cleaning rags? Alternatively, take a look at the ‘unpaper towels’ from Marley’s Monster, which will fit onto our existing kitchen towel holder.
4. Cook from scratch
Challenge yourself to make more of your food from scratch - maybe you’ll make a new recipe every weekend. This could be anything from baking homemade bread instead of buying a ready-sliced, plastic-packed supermarket loaf, to buying loose beans instead of tinned, to simply cooking more of your own meals instead of buying convenience food or takeaways.
5. Grow your own
If you have garden space (or even just a balcony that you could put pots on) then have a go at growing your own food, even if it’s just one item to see how it goes. If you aren’t lucky enough to have open space, then how about starting a windowsill of homegrown herbs?
6. Opt for loose leaf tea and coffee
Most of the tea bags that we use today have plastic linings to them, not only meaning that they can’t be composted, but also that you’re infusing plastic in boiling water with every cup, which isn’t that appealing for your morning brew. Opt for loose leaf tea instead, and get yourself a stainless steel infuser or a good old-fashioned teapot. If you’re a coffee drinker, buy your coffee ground (or get coffee beans and grind your own) for a zero waste alternative to instant coffee.
7. Keep your jars when you’re done with their contents
If you have foods that come in jars, don’t throw them away! Items like olives, sauces, spreads etc often come in glass jars, which are perfect if you have a local refill shop and fancy giving bulk shopping a go. They also come in handy for Instagram-worthy breakfast parfaits, and pinterest craft projects, of course.
8. Borrow from friends
Seen a recipe you really want to try, but don’t have the high-speed blender, juicer, or slow cooker it requires? Try to resist buying new gadgets that you’ll probably only use a handful of times, and instead borrow from friends. And if you really want it, could you find one second-hand instead?
9. Save your citrus peels
If you love to infuse your water with lemons, but end up with piles of peel that you don’t know how to use, then have a go at making your own household cleaning spray. Save your peels in a container in your freezer, and once you have a couple of hands full pop them in a jar, fill with 50% white or apple cider vinegar and 50% water and let it infuse in the fridge for a couple of weeks. Then decant into an old spray bottle and you’ve got yourself a super cheap, effective, zero waste all-purpose cleaning spray.
10. Composting
If you have a garden, turn your food scraps into compost to fertilise your plants - all you need is a corner of your garden that you can put the compost in, which isn’t too close to your house (to avoid the smells…) and has plenty of room to turn the compost. If you don’t have your own garden, are there any local allotments which might have a compost pile? If not then make sure you’re still separating your food waste out for your local council collection - they’ll either use it for composting centrally or incinerate it for energy.
