How To Make Your Kitchen A Healthier One
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When it comes to cooking and what I stock my kitchen with, I’m always trying to make choices that benefit both my health and the planet. In the last year alone, I’ve become considerably more environmentally conscious, and in doing so, I’ve been able to cut back on a major source of toxins in my life: plastic.
Most of our kitchens are filled with plastic, from our cooking utensils and containers, to plates, cups, water bottles and beyond. During my kids' childhoods, it made more sense to have plastic items in my kitchen—like when they were learning how to hold things, or dragging a sippy cup around—but now, there’s no real reason for me to have plastic. In fact, there are a LOT of reasons for me to not have plastic around, especially near my food.
We’ve known for a while now that most plastic is eternal—it’s estimated that a third of all plastic ends up in landfills and oceans (and even that number feels low to me). This plastic leaches toxic chemicals into our land, water, and ultimately, our food supply. Not to mention, plastic often breaks down into microplastic (microscopic pieces of plastic that don’t break down further), which end up being ingested by numerous animals, like fish, which we end up eating. It’s a never-ending cycle, so long as plastic exists in the way it does now.
On top of that, plastic negatively affects our health. It’s been shown that plastic exposures our bodies to endocrine disruptors, which wreak havoc on our hormones. These disruptors can cause hormonal changes and imbalances that result in serious disease and health issues, like cancer, infertility, and developmental and cognitive problems. Fortunately, this doesn’t have to be our fate. While it would be hard to completely eliminate plastic from our lives, given what foods and other items are wrapped and packaged in—but we can certainly kick it out of our kitchen and home. Going plastic-free is one of the easiest, most rewarding ways to create a healthier kitchen. Here’s how you can start.
Step 1: Identify all the plastic in your kitchen.
The more you look, the more you’ll find—seriously, plastic is everywhere! Plastic food storage containers, plastic wrap, plastic bags, plastic bottles, plastic jars, plastic cups… find it all and make a note of it. That way, you know what you have to replace, and you can move on to Step 2.
Step 2: Find suitable replacements.
Now the fun (and sometimes tricky) part—replacing all that you found. The goal here is to fill your kitchen with plastic-free alternatives, namely ones you’ll actually use. You don’t want to purchase something that is inconvenient or a complete departure from the items you already own; remember, we are creatures of habit, and the best way to shift to a plastic-free kitchen is to get items that mimic the ones you already have and use all the time. That way, it’s a quick and easy swap. Here are some of the swaps I’ve made, and products I’ve replaced them with:
Glass, ceramic, or stainless steel food storage containers: For storing my food, I use all glass or ceramic containers—ideally with glass, metal, or ceramic lids. I also have a set of stainless steel containers with airtight lids.
Glasslock 18-Piece Assorted Oven Safe Container Set: Home & Kitchen
Glass Food Storage Containers Set,Airtight Food Jars with Bamboo Wooden Lids
Parchment paper hack: I have some glass containers that have plastic lids, so to prevent the plastic from leaching into my food, I put a piece of parchment paper between the food and the lid. It serves as a little barrier.
Mason jars and old pasta sauce jars: I’ve gotten into the habit of collecting jars and saving any and all that I buy—it’s a game changing life hack! Anything that comes in a glass jar, like pasta sauce, pickles, even honey, I save those jars. Once I remove the label and wash them, they’re the perfect swap for the random assortment of plastic tupperware I used to have. I love saving honey jars to use for homemade salad dressing, and I use other jars for fermented food, dry goods storage, and more.
Regular-Mouth Glass Mason Jars with Metal Airtight Lids
Cookware: For cookware (oven and stove), I rely heavily on my cast iron skillet and my stainless steel pots and pans. No non-stick toxic coating for me please. The pans I use for oven roasting are stainless steel, and I use parchment paper to line them.
Water bottles: Goodbye single-use plastic water bottles, I’m all about the reusable ones now! My favorite are the insulated bottles that keep water cold forever—they’re a godsend.
Ice cube trays: This isn’t such an obvious one! I didn’t even think about the fact that my ice cube trays were made of plastic for a while. Now I have stainless steel and silicone ones (technically silicone is in the rubber family, and it doesn’t break down like plastic does and it’s indisputably safer for us than plastic).
Colanders and steamers: Another not-so-obvious one. Get yourself a stainless steel strainer and steamer!
Storage bags and plastic wrap: This was the hardest one for me to switch over, namely because Ziploc bags are just so ingrained in us nowadays. Now I use Bee’s Wrap (made of beeswax) and silicone Stasher bags.
Stasher Reusable Silicone Storage Bag, Food Storage Container, Microwave and Dishwasher Safe
Bee's Wrap - Assorted 3 Pack - Made in USA - Certified Organic Cotton - Plastic and Silicone Free
These were the main areas where I found plastic in my kitchen and where I think you should begin your search. Once you’ve made the swaps, you have the tools you need to live a pretty plastic-free life!
Step 3: Commit to not buying it in the future.
Once you get all of the plastic out of your kitchen, make sure you keep it out! There’s no use in replacing all of the items you worked hard to swap out, and who wants to add toxins back into their life? Not me.
I hope this article was helpful for you, and that adding plastic-alternatives to your life brings you some peace. You can rest assured that you are doing right by your health, and that you aren’t harming the environment by doing so!
XO,
Renata