Simplifying my home to make it more sustainable has been a long journey that I’m still in the middle of. I’ve learned to take it day by day, one thing at a time, one room at a time. My kitchen has probably been the longest and most difficult for my husband and I to get rid of plastic, strive to create less waste, buy and use products that are eco friendly and reusable.
Over the years we’ve ditched harmful products – for us and the world – and switched to safe products that we use daily. It’s definitely a lifestyle change, not just something you do one day. Although I’m still on this journey, I want to share with you some of our tips and products we now use.
Glass Jars Instead of Plastic
Jars, jars, and more jars! We’ve ditched every (almost) piece of plastic we own in our kitchen and switched to glass jars of all different sizes. We use them for sauces, leftovers, takeout, storage for nuts, seeds and oats. I love how easy they are to clean and they can easily be put in the freezer, hot water, microwave, oven or on the stovetop without any harmful effects.
Young Living’s Thieves Cleaner
There are all kinds of companies out there who claim to be organic and all-natural. I challenge you to get the Think Dirty app and do more research about cleaning products. Young Living’s Thieves Cleaner is THE best I’ve found! It works wonders and it smells like Christmas. Check out Young Living here and if you have questions about other products they offer, ask me!
Reusable Bags and Wraps
Instead of using one-use items like seran wrap and plastic baggies, we’ve invested in reusable beeswax wraps and other bags. A few brands we love are: Khala Cloths and Stasher Bags. Check them out, since they are an investment, they’ve saved us money and they help us to create no waste!
Cloth Napkins
We have cloth napkins to replace paper napkins! They aren’t anything fancy, although my guests always think they are, because my mother-in-law got them from a garage sale. But we bring them everywhere: in the car, on picnics, eating at our kitchen table, road trips, to work, and coffee shops!
Grinder and Filters for Coffee
The hubbs and I love our coffee every morning! Since we started dating we’ve always used an Aeropress and a Burr Grinder, which is a hand-grinder instead of electric. We absolutely love how special it is to make a cup of coffee, it’s more of an art! We recently started using reusable filters instead of paper ones. Although the paper filters create little waste, waste is still waste, so we chose to get a reusable ones! You can find them on amazon.
Towels and Rags Instead of Paper Towels
This has been the hardest for my husband and I to do, as in, we are still in the process of ditching paper towels and switching to using rags and towels only in our kitchen. So far we are using specific towels for specific things, we have one for clean hands, one for dishes, one for clean produce to dry on and another draped over the oven in case of messes. But we do still have a few rolls of paper towels (thank you, Costco) to use before we will totally go paper towel-free!
I hope that was encouraging to anyone no matter where you are at in your journey towards living a waste-free, plastic-free life!
What eco friendly and ethical products do you use in your home?