Published

1 year ago

May 2, 2024

Alice Rush

Last Updated on May 2, 2024

The kitchen is one of the easiest — and most important! — places to tackle when you decide to go zero waste.

There are so many ways to reduce your carbon footprint via your kitchen, and the best place to start is with your meals and your food waste.

Eco Friendly Kitchen Products for Sustainable Cooking

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links; for more information please see my disclosure policy.

You can have a major impact in your kitchen by eating a more plant based diet, composting, and reducing food waste. On top of that, switching out conventional products for zero waste swaps will save money and reduce trash.

Things like reusable containers, compost bins, and plastic-free storage can help minimize waste and save money. Plus, many of them look just as great on the countertop as they are helpful! Sustainable cooking just got a whole lot more enjoyable and aesthetically pleasing.

Eco friendly kitchen products are key for sustainable cooking. From reusable containers to eco friendly cooking pans, these items will help you reduce waste, support eco conscious cooking, and minimize your carbon footprint. There are so many benefits to using beeswax wraps, stainless steel utensils, eco friendly cleaning products, and more. Zero waste cooking is easier than ever when you use eco friendly cooking tools.

what is an eco friendly kitchen?

An eco friendly kitchen is designed to reduce its environmental impact through sustainable habits and practices. The focus is on eliminating food waste, composting, reducing trash, conserving energy, and using eco friendly materials, tools, and appliances.

When we bought our house, I got to organize my kitchen into an eco-friendly dream. Our kitchen is pretty small, but we’ve prioritized a place for composting our food scraps, a spot for all of our eco friendly cleaning products under the sink, a cloth towel system to avoid using paper towels, and the BIG thing – swapping our appliances.

All of our appliances were over 40 years old and really inefficient. Not to mention the family of mice living in our oven… we chose energy-efficient appliances, and swapped our gas stove for an induction cooktop which I love!

Whether you own your home or you rent, you can make all different levels of changes to accommodate your eco friendly kitchen. Whether that’s small habit changes like tossing vegetable scraps and coffee grounds into the compost instead of the trash, making sure to recycle, and ditching single-use plastic. All of these efforts add up to massive impact. You’ll save money, reduce waste, and promote a healthier planet.

essential eco friendly kitchen products

1. reusable food storage containers

Swap single-use plastic food containers for reusable ones. Single-use plastics fill our dumps and landfills so using reusable food containers was one of the first steps I made when creating a more eco friendly kitchen. There are several options to choose from — glass, stainless steel, and silicone are just a few.

I avoid storing leftovers in plastic for health reasons from the synthetic estrogens as well as microplastics. I prefer glass containers because you can microwave them, and they’re clear so you don’t forget what you’ve stored in them.

Glass snapware is one of my favorites because they come in various different shapes and sizes and are leak-proof. The lids for snapware are often made from plastic, with a silicone lining, but the glass base isn’t. Just make sure you take the top off before heating up leftovers in the microwave.

Plus, if you buy things like peanut butter or pasta sauce in glass jars, you’re getting a glass container to reuse for free! So making the swap to reusable containers is an easy swap to make.

You can also invest in some glass canisters for storing your dry goods from the bulk food store. Many places, like The Container Store, sell these both online and in-person.

Silicone bags are another decent option for food storage. I love the ones Stasher bags sells, as they’re easy to close and can be used in the microwave, oven, and freezer, making them quite versatile.

If you still have some Tupperware that’s in decent shape, you don’t have to toss it out though. You can upcycle it by using it to store non-food items, or even utilizing it to freeze food scraps for your compost.

2. beeswax wraps and silicone lids

Replacing your plastic wrap with beeswax wraps or silicone lids for leftovers is yet another way to reduce how much plastic you use.

I’ve been opting for beeswax wraps for years now and I’ll never go back to saran wrap! These wraps are made with natural beeswax and organic cotton, making them compostable at the end of their life. Beeswrap has also begun selling vegan versions as well, made using plant-based wax.

Beeswax wraps come in all different sizes for various uses: There’s small, medium, large, and bread wraps to choose from. Getting a variety pack is ideal for beginners, as it lets you work with an assortment of sizes.

To use beeswax wraps, you simply use the warmth of your hands to secure the wraps onto your surface. You can use them to secure plates, bowls, the ends of cut produce, bread, loose produce, and more.

I like to keep some silicone lids on hand as well, as they’re also reusable and more environmentally friendly than plastic wrap. Silicone lids can be used to cover small, medium and large dishes and bowls. They’re also very easy to wash by hand.

Both options really do keep your food just as fresh. Additionally, if you’re in a pinch, you can always just use a plate to cover a bowl in the fridge.

3. stainless steel or bamboo utensils

Plastic utensils can melt or fall apart easily, and they’re also teeming with microplastics.

Stainless steel and bamboo should be your go-to as you create your new sustainable cooking arsenal. They’re more durable, last longer, and curb plastic pollution. There are also so many chic options for stainless steel and bamboo these days. No need to give up on style.

For silicone utensils, Oxo is a reliable brand. Oxo is a 1% For The Planet member, which means they commit 1% of their annual sales to environmental nonprofits.

I personally love bamboo and I even have a bamboo dishwashing brush to do my dishes with.

Caraway just started selling a knives and utensils set too: The utensils are made from FSC-Certified Birch Wood, and the metal is made from premium German steel. You can just get the knife set or the utensil set on its own, or together.

However, if you’re looking into more budget-friendly options, I suggest checking your local thrift store. Often times there will be secondhand wooden and silicone utensils there at affordable prices.

I would advise you clean your thrifted wooden utensils before using them though: Just boil some water and let them soak in it as it boils. Don’t forget to oil your wooden utensils on occasion too using olive oil or coconut oil. This will keep them looking like new.

To store your cooking utensils, consider using an upcycled mason jar, or a thrifted vase or canister.

4. eco friendly cooking pans

If you’re a long-time reader of the blog you know I cook a lot, and having eco friendly cooking pans is a must. I’ve reviewed several cookware brands and bakeware sets.

Most conventional non-stick cookware contains Teflon coating. Teflon is made with a specific kind of Perfluorocarbon (PFC) that makes the surface of cookware resistant to sticking.

The problem with this is when Teflon coated pans get overheated (above 500 degrees F), the Teflon coatings on nonstick cookware start to break down, releasing toxic chemicals into the air.

It only takes 2.5 minutes for a traditional non-stick pan on high heat to exceed 500 degrees F and begin releasing forever chemicals, aka PFAs. PFAS don’t break down in our bodies, earning them the nickname “forever chemicals.” Instead they just just stay and build up in our bodies year after year.

It’s best to opt for non-toxic materials like ceramic, cast iron, or stainless steel — not only do they last longer than their plastic counterparts, but they also guarantee a cooking environment free from harmful chemicals.

There are some really nice-looking brands out there. One of my favorites is Caraway Cookware. They boast plastic-free shipping, are Teflon-free, and have a recycling program.

5. compost bin or compostable bags

I love my compost bin! Composting is one of the best ways to keep food scraps out of landfills and create nutrient-rich soil for plants like herbs, fruits, vegetables, and even flowers.

Contrary to popular belief, you also don’t need a lot of space (or a yard, though I do have an article on backyard composting) to compost. Even better if you have your own veggie garden to use all that glorious compost in. Building a veggie garden on my balcony is on my list of projects to tackle.

There are tons of countertop compost bin options available, or you can build your own. If you do settle on a countertop compost bin, I recommend lining it with one of these compostable trash bags for easier clean up.

I also love using my Lomi, which is a great option for those who love plants, have limited access to industrial composting, or live in an apartment. It can fit on a countertop, or a sturdy display table.

You just feed it your food scraps and Lomi creates nutrient-rich Lomi Earth (aka pre-compost) which is rich in microbial cultures and organic matter. This is perfect to use on plants of all kinds, lawns and gardens, as it will help them flourish

If you’re new to composting, here are 125+ items you can compost around your home. Items like banana peels, eggshells, veggie peels, yard waste and even hair can be composted!

Also, be aware that biodegradable and compostable aren’t the same thing. Essentially, biodegradable simply means a product will eventually break down. But compostable means it will not only break down, but also return to the earth and become a beneficial part of the soil.

For example, plastic is technically biodegradable (because it will break up into microplastics over the course of hundreds of years). However, it is not compostable, because these microplastics will never fully integrate with the soil.

6. eco friendly cleaning products

And something that you can use in any room in your home — are eco friendly cleaning products.

Most traditional cleaning products are full of toxins that are harmful to your health and bad for the environment. In fact, there’s no federal law that requires companies to disclose the ingredients used in your cleaning products.

When these harsh chemicals go down our drains, they eventually end up in our waterways where they can harm aquatic life.

Be sure to read the ingredients label on your cleaning products and research any ingredients you find questionable. As a general rule, you’ll want to avoid phosphates and methylisothiazolinone, as both are considered toxic to marine ecosystems.

What’s more, many people reach for single-use products like paper towels when there are so many other more sustainable options out there.

Reusable paper towels are just the beginning. You should also look for sustainable dish soap, dishwasher detergent, all-purpose cleaning spray, sponges, and sanitizers.

Here are some simple ways to keep cleaning in the kitchen sustainable:

Use a wooden dish brush with a replaceable and compostable head
Try a dish soap bar, or refillable dish soap option
Clean your sink using natural all-purpose cleaners, or baking soda
Use rags, microfiber cloths, or compostable Swedish dish cloths to clean up messes
Clean your oven using a baking soda paste instead of harsh chemicals
Utilize reusable + DIY disinfectant wipes

eco friendly kitchen products faqs

why should I use eco friendly kitchen products?

Zero waste cooking products will help you lead a zero waste lifestyle! Using eco friendly kitchen products helps reduce plastic waste, minimize harmful chemicals in your home, and promote sustainability.

The average American creates ~4.9lbs of trash per day, most of which is generated from single-use items and food waste. Only 5-6% of plastic is actually recycled. The rest ends up in landfills, the environment, or incinerated.

By opting for these products instead of traditional ones, you can contribute toward our planet’s well-being and reduce waste in your household. Did you know just by composting, you can cut your household waste in half?

Making the switch to eco friendly kitchen products will benefit your health, as well as the environment. Plus, many of these swaps are economical and help you save money in the long run.

where can I find sustainable cooking products?

Sustainable kitchen products are available at various stores, both online and offline. They’re most often found in specialty eco friendly stores, but are becoming more and more widely available in some of the big box places, like The Container Store. I suggest looking online — I also have a section dedicated to zero waste cooking on the blog where you can find my favorite products.

are eco friendly kitchen products more expensive?

Some products like eco friendly cooking pans, bakeware, and utensils are a bit on the expensive side — but I will say they often last longer than most conventional cooking products. That means much more long-term savings! Plus, as sustainable living becomes more popular, more affordable options have become available.

You can also find a lot of eco friendly kitchen products secondhand at thrift stores. Also, don’t be afraid to borrow smaller appliances from a loved one! For example, if you normally don’t use a crockpot, but one recipe calls for it, ask someone you know who has one if you can use it for the night.

You can also try your local Buy Nothing Facebook group, or even Facebook marketplace, to see if you can get deals on more sustainable kitchen products.

The post Eco Friendly Kitchen Products for Sustainable Cooking appeared first on Going Zero Waste.

Eco Friendly Kitchen Products for Sustainable Cooking

Green Living

As Trump Cuts Conservation Funds, Florida’s Miccosukee Tribe Will Purchase Land for Wildlife Corridor

Published

10 hours ago

June 16, 2025

Alice Rush

Florida’s Miccosukee Tribe is seeking to purchase important Tribal lands to create a corridor for wildlife conservation as part of a partnership agreement with the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation.

The corridor will connect 18 million acres of contiguous privately owned and state wilderness that are the habitat of endangered species like Florida panthers and Key deer, reported The Guardian.

“The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida have stewarded the lands and waters of Florida since time immemorial. The entirety of this land, and her flora and fauna, have been shaped by successive generations of our people. Our collective Indigenous Knowledge offers a unique perspective informed by this deep and historic relationship to the lands and waters of the National Wildlife Refuge System that lie within our traditional lands,” said Talbert Cypress, chair of the Miccosukee Tribe, in a press release from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).

During the Seminole Wars two centuries ago, Tribal members sought to protect the Everglades and avoid banishment by government forces to Indian territories in what is now Oklahoma.

In January, the Miccosukee Tribe entered into an agreement with FWS for co-stewardship of national wildlife refuges in South Florida. The agreement means Miccosukee citizens can once again hunt, fish, gather culturally significant and medicinal plants and conduct ceremonies in the refuges adjacent to traditional Miccosukee lands and within the Greater Everglades.

In the wake of the Trump administration’s slashing of federal funds for conservation projects, the Miccosukee Tribe has stepped in to fulfill what it feels is a “moral obligation” to protect their sacred lands and the plants and animals found there.

*Key deer in a Florida state park. Bilanol / iStock / Getty Images Plus*

“We have a constitutional duty to conserve our traditional homelands, the lands and waters which protected and fed our tribe since time immemorial,” Cypress said, as The Guardian reported. “[But] we’ve seen some sort of hesitancy a lot of times to commit to projects because of the erratic nature of how the government is deciding to spend their money or allocate money.”

The agreement was announced during a corridor stakeholders’ summit last week in Orlando. It came as a Native American Fish and Wildlife Society (NAFWS) study found that 60 percent of Tribes recognized by the federal government have lost over $56 million in federal funding since President Donald Trump took office for his second term.

Though Tribes have their own independent governments, the U.S. has legal trust responsibilities to protect rights set out in Tribal treaties regarding lands, assets and resources, a press release from The Wildlife Society (TWS) said.

“These services are part of what we receive in lieu of all of the years of what we gave up — our land, our resources and sometimes, unfortunately, our culture and language,” said Executive Director of NWFWS Julie Thorstenson in the TWS press release. “These are not things that are, in our mind, something that is really negotiable.”

A Florida panther in a tree in Naples, Collier County. Tim Donovan / Florida Fish and Wildlife

As government funding has disappeared and federal land stewardship agreements face an uncertain future due to the Trump administration’s attacks on the National Park Service, Cypress said Tribal leaders had reassessed their work with other partners.

“For good reason, my predecessors had more of a standoffish approach. They went through a lot of the areas where they did deal with conservation groups, federal agencies, state agencies, pretty much not including them in conversations, or going back on their word. They just had a very different approach to this sort of thing,” Cyprus explained, as reported by The Guardian. “My administration has taken more of a collaborative approach. We’re engaging with different organizations not just to build relationships, but fix relationships that may have gone sour in the past, or were just non-existent.”

Lawmakers established the Florida Wildlife Corridor in 2021 and have preserved approximately 10 million acres thus far, with an additional eight million considered “opportunity areas” that need protection. Environmental groups have warned that there is still the potential for large areas to be lost to development.

The Florida legislature has been considering corridor funding cuts to balance state spending, and has encouraged commercial partnerships and investment.

The Tribe has already established a direct or collaborative stewardship with nearly three million acres in Biscayne and Everglades National Parks, as well as Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. Cypress said the Tribe was working on identifying and prioritizing lands inside the corridor that had historical significance.

“Financially, the tribe will invest some money, but we’ll also be instrumental in finding investors, partners interested in the same thing, which is to conserve as much of our natural habitat as possible while making room for growth and development,” Cypress said. “We’ve shown we can do it in a sustainable way, and our voice can help in shaping the future of Florida as far as development goes because once a lot of the land gets developed we’re not going to get it back. We need to do it in a way where we benefit not just ourselves in the present, but for generations in the future as well.”

The post As Trump Cuts Conservation Funds, Florida’s Miccosukee Tribe Will Purchase Land for Wildlife Corridor appeared first on EcoWatch.

https://www.ecowatch.com/florida-tribe-land-purchase-wildlife-corridor.html

Green Living

Pacific Island Nations Announce Plans for Indigenous-Led Melanesian Ocean Reserve, a World First

Published

13 hours ago

June 16, 2025

Alice Rush

During the recent United Nations Ocean Conference, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu governments announced plans to establish the world’s first Indigenous-led multinational ocean reserve, the Melanesian Ocean Reserve.

The planned reserve will span the Solomon Islands’, Vanuatu’s and Papua New Guinea’s national waters and connect to the Exclusive Economic Zone of New Caledonia, another protected area. The Melanesian Ocean Reserve is set to cover more than 6 million square kilometers of a region with some of the richest marine biodiversity in the world.

The envisioned Melanesian Ocean Reserve. Image courtesy of the Melanesian Ocean Reserve

“For millennia, the Indigenous Peoples of Melanesia have been the wisest and most effective stewards of these sacred waters. That is why the governments of Melanesia are joining forces to create an unprecedented ocean reserve that honours our identities, livelihoods, and spiritual connections,” Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele said in a statement.

Once complete, the new ocean reserve will be as large as the Amazon Rainforest, according to the Solomon Islands-based and Indigenous-led nonprofit Islands Knowledge Institute, which is collaborating with the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu in establishing the reserve.

Ecologist Edgar Pollard, leader of the Islands Knowledge Institute, said, “The Melanesian Ocean Reserve has progressed from an idea to a powerful platform amongst Melanesian leaders because it connects to an unmistakable truth in their lives: that treating the ocean as our home, in the deepest sense of the word, is the best protection.”

According to the Wildlife Conservation Society, the southwestern Pacific Ocean region is of great ecological and cultural importance, with extensive coral reef systems including 75% of known coral species and over 3,000 species of reef-dependent fish.

However, the region is under increasing threats from climate change, illegal fishing, and industrial trawling, among other concerns, as reported on the reserve website.

Already, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu have kept more than 150,000 square kilometers of the surrounding waters safe from exploitation, and they will now be able to extend their conservation efforts to an area more than 3.5 times the size of Alaska.

As part of the initiative, the nations plan to also provide further Indigenous knowledge on marine conservation, establish and support regenerative economies, prioritize sustainable infrastructure (including solar-powered and electric water vessels and solar power for local villages), and emphasize cultural vitality, including by only allowing customary activities in parts of the reserve.

As Mongabay reported, Papua New Guinea, which is expected to join in on establishing the reserve, has controversial deep-sea mining plans that are of concern into how they could affect the reserve.

However, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu are hopeful that this project could inspire more governments to expand their marine conservation efforts and limit exploitative activities.

“It is an objective of our National Ocean Policy to establish this transboundary corridor of traditionally managed ocean space between our countries, and we are delighted that this is now happening,” Vanuatu’s Minister for Environment Ralph Regenvanu said in a statement. “The Melanesian Ocean Reserve will give the governments and peoples of Melanesia the ability to do much more to protect our ancestral waters from those who extract and exploit without concern for our planet and its living beings. We hope our Indigenous stewardship of this vast reserve will create momentum for similar initiatives all over the world.”

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The post Pacific Island Nations Announce Plans for Indigenous-Led Melanesian Ocean Reserve, a World First appeared first on EcoWatch.

https://www.ecowatch.com/melanesian-ocean-reserve-indigenous.html

Green Living

High Levels of Mercury Found in Alligators in Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia

Published

5 days ago

June 12, 2025

Alice Rush

In a new study, scientists have detected high levels of mercury contamination in alligators from the Okefenokee Swamp in southeastern Georgia. The contamination in the alligators could be an indicator of more widespread heavy metal contamination in the region, which could be harmful to other wildlife, and ultimately humans.

“Alligators are very ancient creatures, and we can look at them in these areas as an indicator of what else might be happening in the ecosystem,” Kristen Zemaitis, lead author of the study and a graduate of the Odum School of Ecology at University of Georgia, said in a statement. “Studying them can relate to many different things in the food web.”

Scientists analyzed blood samples and dietary habits of 133 alligators from three different sites: Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia; Jekyll Island, Georgia; and Yawkey Wildlife Center, South Carolina. While the team found mercury in alligators from all three sites, the amount of mercury in alligators from the Okefenokee Swamp was up to eight times higher compared to the alligators along the coast. They published their findings in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.

Older alligators also had higher levels of mercury, which the researchers explained could be both because of the longer time the mercury could spend accumulating as well as an increase in the volume of prey — which are likely also contaminated with mercury — that the alligators eat as they grow.

But even young alligators were found to contain mercury, as “Mothers are passing toxins and heavy metals into the egg yolks during reproduction,” Zemaitis said.

A new study found that smaller alligators and hatchlings could inherit high levels of mercury from their mothers. Chamberlain Smith / University of Georgia

Because Okefenokee Swamp shares water with the Suwannee and St. Marys rivers, the researchers warned that mercury levels found in alligators, at the top of the food chain, likely means local fish also contain mercury.

“Mercury is a neurotoxin that is very lethal to organisms,” Jeb Byers, co-author of the study and a professor at the Odum School, said in a statement. “If it builds up, it moves through the food web and creates the perfect storm. That’s what we have in the Okefenokee.”

That could also pose a threat for people who hunt or fish in this area, especially if they are consuming their catches.

“Mercury contamination can be a high concern for the people who can be consuming a lot of fish or game species from the rivers, swamps or oceans that have high mercury,” Zemaitis explained. “In any given ecosystem, there are some organisms that can tolerate only very little amounts of mercury, which can result in neurological issues, reproductive issues and eventually death.”

Following this study, Zemaitis hopes to do a deeper investigation into the source of this mercury pollution, how it spreads throughout ecosystems and how it is affecting other wildlife.

“Now that we know this about one of the apex predators in these systems, we wonder what else is being affected?” she said.