13 Mar Sustainability in the kitchen: 3 easy zero- & low-waste ideas
youDRESSED Redaktion
It’s shocking how quickly plastic, paper and residual waste piles up every week in our own household and in the kitchen alone. Waste separation alone has not been enough for a long time. Zero- or low-waste ideas are needed to be sustainable. We present 3 zero- & low-waste tips that anyone can easily implement today.
Every day, huge amounts of waste are produced, especially when it comes to eating and cooking. According to the latest figures, each of us produces one kilogram of waste – in a single day alone. Excuses are pointless, at the latest now we have to change something. These three tips for kitchen & nutrition could be your first step towards sustainability.
1. Unwrapped instead of overwrapped!
A look in the refrigerator or pantry reveals where the problem lies: Vegetables and fruit in paper trays and additional plastic packaging. Nobody really needs double waste, so what can be done? It is advisable to keep an eye out when shopping. Often it does not need to be a special unpacked-store, even the supermarkets offer more and more unpacked fresh food. So, when shopping, take your time, stroll through the aisles and see what foods you can save on waste. This includes not going shopping unprepared. Pack your own grocery bags and fruit nets instead of relying on the bags at the store.
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2. Less is more
The bad thing is that not only outer packaging material ends up in the trash, but also expired food and leftovers. We often buy more than we can consume. And this is where mindfulness and good preparation when shopping comes into play again. Create a structured shopping list, write a meal plan for the week and ideally never go shopping hungry. If you plan ahead what’s coming to the table this week, you’ll avoid overbuying or splurging. It’s also best to test what you really consume and which foods you regularly have too much of in stock and adjust your future purchases to your actual consumption.
Also: The expiration date of food is a best before date, which means that many foods can still be in the best condition after that date. First check the appearance, if it fits a small smell test and then do a taste test. If everything fits, the food can still be consumed.
3. Organization is key
Ironic that you first need something more to sustainably consume less. But one tip that has already caught on in many households is to create uniform bins and containers in the utility room or pantry. There’s a grandmother’s saying that ” Organization is half the battle” – and as is so often the case, the grannies are right. Because this tip goes hand in hand with the previous two. Keeping your pantry open and uniform avoids wasteful shopping, because it’s easy to see what you still have and what can be restocked. Speaking of “restocking,” instead of buying dry foods like pasta, rice, and nuts in plastic packaging, you can take your containers and jars to an unpackaged food store or the farmer’s market and have them restocked there.
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The urgency of the situation is once again brought home to us in this video. Let’s work together for a more waste-free world – one low-waste step at a time.
Source cover image: pexels / Karolina Grabowska
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