Zero Waste Living - Kitchen Edition

Carley Ives
Oct 13, 2019
5 min read

Hey hey hey! As some of you know, I recently moved into my own apartment. I always get asked if I like living alone and the answer is hell yes. I feel so in control of my life and like I can literally conquer anything. The only thing that sucks is I miss living with my best friend Maeve Swan (beautiful name I know but don't hype her up about it, thats my job). She lives down the street so maybe I am being dramatic but I do miss her.

ANYWAY, sorry Maeve this post isn't about you. As we all know I love the environment and do anything in my power to preserve our earth and educate others. So within living alone, I have discovered I want to eventually turn my apartment into a zero waste home. I was never able to do this before because I always had an excessive amount of roommates or lived in my parents house and they are pretty set in their ways. That's not a bad thing but I am not going to try to flip their entire house into waste free. It was easy to do this for my apartment in the city because I started from scratch! And for me its not that hard to not produce a lot of waste or use a ton of plastic when it was never in my place to begin with!

So I am going to do a little 3-part series on everything I am doing to reduce my waste in each section of my apartment! I am no where near perfect but I'm trying and if you ask me, thats all any of us can do! The kitchen was the biggest culprit for me with plastic and single-use products, so here I am to share with you guys my zero waste lifestyle!

*Disclaimer*

Yes I used Amazon for some things and although I don't condone using it for every possible item that could be purchased elsewhere, you can't argue that its so god damn convenient. I look at it as me ordering one box with some plastic packaging, but INSIDE are reusable products that I will hopefully not have to order again for a long time. So at least I am not using amazon to order cotton rounds every month! Its a one and done kinda deal.

Reusable Grocery Bags

So lets start with what we are using to bring things back into our kitchen. This is probably the easiest to do and the most common. I got a canvas tote with multiple smaller bags inside for produce. I keep it on my coat hook and I have been pretty good about remembering to bring it. Sometimes if I am out for the day I will literally just bring it in case I buy anything. It looks kinda cute with some outfits so why not.
This also keeps me from over buying!! Because every time I go into Trader Joes I am tempted to purchase close to the entire store. So if I limit myself to this one tote because it puts into perspective on how much I actually need.

ree — Heres me outside a local market with my little reusable shopping tote

This is the biggest size because I buy HELLA lemons. — The produce bags inside the tote have a ton of different sizes.

Reusable Ziplock bags

I am gonna be honest, this is the one I was most nervous about. Simply because of the connivence factor. I basically got a pack of 6 for snacks, sandwiches, fruit etc. on the go. I use them all the time and could not be more happy about this purchase.
My mom has said "Isn't it annoying to have to clean those after every use?" and I can't say its the best part of my day but it sure does feel good cleaning it out instead of throwing away a plastic bag. All you need is a sponge and some hot water and its done. I would say I have saved over 60 plastic bags thus far, and it feels really good to say that.

ree — This is how I dry them! Helps a lot when the water can fall out by itself

Dishwasher Detergent

I'm not entirely sure what is in leading detergents such as Tide ETC, but all I know is that I wanted all natural ingredients and not a ton of chemicals. This one gets all grease and grime off my dishes AND is in a compostable packaging! Can never go wrong with that.

Reusable Coffee Cup

This is something I think everyyyyone needs to get behind. I am new to the coffee game and I am coming in full force. When I realized how much I enjoy it, I immediately bought a reusable cup made from recycled materials from the coffee shop I go to everyday. Peets Coffee is my jam because they give you a discount when you bring your own cup! I think Starbucks does that too but I am not entirely sure. So I am reducing my waste AND saving money?? I don't see a downside.

BeesWax Wrap

This basically replaced plastic wrap for me. I am still pretty new to it so we will see how I like it but so far its been good! I place it over things like a half cut cucumber, half an avocado and I even wrapped my freshly baked muffins in the largest size! The pack I got came in a set of 3 different sizes so it makes sense for multiple things! Just rinse them with some soap and water when you're done and bam, you saved some plastic.

Lunch Bag

This cute little guy has become my new favorite thing! Not only does it prevent me from using brown paper bags, it honestly prompts me to make my own lunches more! And because of the reusable ziplocks, there is almost no plastic used within making my own lunch.
I also have sauce containers that I use for things like salad dressing, ranch to dip my veggies in and hummus to dip my pretzels in! I wasn't sure how much I'd use these but I love em!!

Reusable Silverware

I keep these inside my lunch bag at all times but lately I've been wanting to bring them in my purse when I eat out. If I am going to a place with plastic silverware id rather bring my little bamboo set with me! It comes with a toothbrush and a metal straw, how cute?!

Metal Straws

Honestly if you're not already on this trend than what are you doing. They are so easy to clean in the dishwasher and they keep your drink cold! I got my mom on this trend and she said she absolutely loves them because it keeps her coffee cold for the time it spends shooting up the straw. It also keeps our celery juice cold when we suffer and drink that together. I love my momma

Now I am obviously not saying you have to do all these, but this is how I have chosen to live my life and I wanted to share that with others!! Maybe try choosing one thing off this list and see if its a lifestyle you want to look into. Love you all, thanks if you made it to the end of this.

Stay tuned for how I reduce waste in my bathroom ;)

Love,