Top 10 Eco-Friendly Kitchen Products Every Home Must Have
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So you’re looking for eco-friendly products for your kitchen – kudos!
The kitchen is where we prepare food and sustenance, yet it is also a part of our home that creates tons of waste every day.
From plastic waste to organic food scraps, you know what we mean.
But with eco-friendly kitchen products, you can continue spoiling yourself and your family with delicious meals with minimal impact on the planet.
Below are 10 of the best eco-friendly kitchen products every home must have to stay healthy while protecting the environment.
Let’s see how many of them you’re already using.
1. Eco-friendly Cookware
Depending on materials and the chemicals used as a coating, the cookware we use to prepare food every day can negatively impact the planet.
To have a more eco-friendly kitchen, here’s a checklist that can help when choosing cookwares:
- Opt for pots and pans made out of sustainable if not recycled materials.
- Make sure to choose cookware with a non-toxic coating that doesn’t leach harmful substances (such as PFAS, PFOA, lead, and cadmium) into your food.
- Buy easy-to-clean and dishwasher-safe cookware for easy cleanup and to save water.
- Buy eco-friendly cookware brands that use recycled materials as packaging, low-impact dyes, and zero plastic bags.
- Choose cookware that is scratch-resistant and proven for its durability and quality.
High-quality, eco-friendly cookware will help reduce pollution, unnecessary consumption of natural resources and help you save money as well.
While you’re here, you can check out one of our recommended eco-friendly cookware brands.
2. Eco-friendly Food Containers
Say goodbye to single-use plastic wraps and plastic lunch boxes.
Unlike typical food containers, eco-friendly food containers are made using eco-friendly materials such as silicone, bamboo, stainless steel, and glass.
And since they are reusable, eco-friendly food containers are excellent choices for anyone looking to store food without plastic and reduce waste from their kitchen.
Moreover, eco-friendly food containers are safer to use since they won’t leach harmful chemicals like BPA into your food.
These eco-friendly kitchen products are perfect for storing spices, herbs, or leftover foods at home and carrying lunch and snacks to work, school and trips.
3. Plastic-Free Kitchen Utensils & Flatware
Buy spoons, forks, spatulas, tongs, and other kitchen utensils made of nonplastic materials.
If you take the time to look, you can find tons of reusable kitchen utensils and flatware today made of wood, stainless steel, silicone, and bamboo.
But we’re not telling you to rush to IKEA or the mall to get a new set of eco-friendly kitchen utensils.
No, not yet.
Throwing the ones you have now will only add unnecessary plastic waste into the system, which will likely end up in landfills or incinerators.
As you may already know, only a minimal amount of plastic waste is recycled.
So the best course of action?
Continue using the utensils and flatwares you currently have at home.
But when it’s finally time to replace them, you know better than buying ones made of plastic.
4. Sustainable & Eco-Friendly Kitchen Cabinets
The ever-rising demand for wood products such as kitchen cabinets is one of the significant causes of deforestation.
But we understand that cabinets are necessary to keep our kitchen organized.
The solution?
Eco-friendly kitchen cabinets made using sustainable materials such as stainless steel, bamboo or reclaimed wood.
As you may already know, bamboo is a sustainable raw material, while reclaimed wood products are made using wood which is otherwise considered waste or junk.
You can also get pan and pot organizers made of iron and stainless steel.
But if you prefer cabinets made using virgin wood, opt for those with certifications from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or Environment Stewardship Program (ESP).
Besides materials, you also want a formaldehyde-free kitchen cabinet.
Formaldehyde is a known carcinogen and one of the harmful ingredients in products you’ll want to steer clear of.
Finally, make sure that your chosen cabinets are made ethically, meaning no forced labor or child labor in any part of the production.
5. Zero Waste Dish Soaps
Cleaning pots, flatwares, and dishes using typical dish soaps can harm the environment and a person’s health.
Many commercial dish soaps today contain harsh ingredients like chlorine, SLS, triclosan, and phosphates that can irritate your skin or pollute water systems.
Moreover, typical dish soaps also come in plastic packaging and containers, and you wouldn’t want that.
Meanwhile, zero waste dish soaps are made using natural and biodegradable ingredients, so they are safe for you and the planet.
Moreover, they also come in plastic-free or eco-friendly packaging options.
Zero waste dish soaps are one of the eco-friendly kitchen cleaning products every home should have.
If you’re using a dishwasher, look for eco-friendly dishwasher detergent options.
6. Eco-Friendly Kitchen Sponges
Most disposable sponges that we typically use to scrub dishes and pots today (the green and yellow kitchen sponges) are made from synthetic fibers.
They are not biodegradable, and they can pollute waterways.
The typical green and yellow sponges are also not recyclable, so once we throw them, they have nowhere else to go but to the landfills, where they can take hundreds of years to decompose!
For a more eco-friendly kitchen, consider using sponges made with natural and biodegradable materials.
Check out this eco-friendly kitchen cleaning sponge made with a sustainable and unbleached loofah.
Loofah is a fast-growing vegetable and is now commonly used as a raw material for making natural and nonplastic kitchen sponges.
7. Plastic-Free Kitchen Scrubs & Brush
Another eco-friendly kitchen cleaning product that we love is scrubs and brushes made from natural and plant-based materials.
These eco-friendly kitchen products are perfect for cleaning pots, counters, and sinks that sponges can’t handle.
They are plastic-free yet durable and long-lasting.
And once they are past their usable life, you can compost since they are completely biodegradable.
No more sending discarded plastic brushes to landfills!
And if kitchen brushes made with natural plant fibers aren’t your thing, how about the ones made with silicone?
Silicone kitchen brushes might not be perfect in the eco-friendly department, but they are more eco-friendly alternatives than plastic brushes.
8. Sustainable Bamboo Cutting Boards
Whether it’s to slice meat or mince spices, we all need a decent chopping board in our kitchen.
But what is your cutting board made of? Wood? Plastic?
Try bamboo chopping boards as they are more sustainable than wood and more eco-friendly than plastic.
Moreover, bamboo cutting wood doesn’t dull your knives and feels easy to cut on.
Check out one of the best bamboo cutting boards on Amazon.
9. Reusable Paper Towels
It’s time to ditch disposable paper towels and make the switch to eco-friendly alternatives.
As you may already know, countless trees are felled each day to create products like disposable paper towels.
This directly results in deforestation, loss of biodiversity, and carbon emissions.
And the sad part?
We literally just throw paper towels after using them once!
By switching to reusable paper towels, you can help preserve forests and protect natural habitats within.
Reusable paper towels can be washed and reused repeatedly, reducing waste and helping save trees and other natural resources.
Moreover, using reusable paper towels can save you some money in the long run!
If you haven’t tried using reusable paper towels yet, you can get started with reusable bamboo paper towels.
They are durable, sustainable, and eco-friendly!
10. Kitchen Indoor Compost Bins
Did you know that rotting food releases methane, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming?
Having a kitchen compost bin helps repurpose your organic kitchen waste to minimize the trash bound for landfills.
With your kitchen waste composted, you help reduce food scraps and organic waste rotting in landfills, so less methane is released into the atmosphere.
Win-win!
Moreover, composting also provides free organic fertilizer that you can use for your home garden, which is perfect if you’re a green thumb.
But don’t just get the first kitchen compost bin you can find.
Go for compost bins made with eco-friendly and sustainable materials like stainless steel, silicone, or natural fibers.
Final Thoughts
So, which of the eco-friendly kitchen products above are you planning to get first?
How many of them do you already have?
Anyways, we hope this post has given you excellent ideas on how to make your kitchen more eco-friendly without complicating your current lifestyle.
And if you know other eco-friendly kitchen products that should be on this list, you are welcome to share your thoughts and suggestions in the comment section.