LIVING, THINKING + BEING
PLASTIC FREE JULY STARTS IN THE KITCHEN Plastic Free July® challenges people to be part of the solution to plastic pollution by saying ‘No’ to single use plastics. Making better habits stick means changing our environment rather than relying on willpower. Start with one of these Plastic Free July kitchen challenges and nail it first before moving on to the next one. Think of the difference you could make by the end of the year. Eliminating plastic cling film
There’s no need for plastic food wrap anymore. Try the plantbased, biodegradable alternatives, or better yet, invest in reusable solutions. Kitchen challenge: Phase out your cling film and stock up on reusable beeswax wraps, silicone lids, or high quality metal or glass food containers. Starting a refilling habit
It’s surprisingly easy to create an artful, sustainable wholefood filled pantry – start saving jars and lids to reuse them. Chantal pasta sauce jars are a generous size, making them great for storing nuts, beans, pasta and dried fruit. Kitchen challenge: Get into the habit of refilling your favourite ecostore liquid products at your local ecostore refill stations in the supermarket or green store. Buying your favourites in bulk
Buy bulk formats (space permitting) and decant them into smaller items to fit your pantry or kitchen cleaning cupboard. Bonus – most bulk products also come in recyclable or compostable packaging.
Kitchen challenge: List all the kitchen items you know you can buy in bulk like oil, flour, kitchen spray, nuts, etc… and pop it on your fridge. When these items run out, make a note on your grocery list to replace them with bulk or other low waste alternatives. Concentrating on cleaning products
Not all the packaging in your kitchen will contain food and drinks. Buying concentrated cleaning products is another way to shrink plastic waste in your kitchen. Kitchen challenge: Try ecostore’s Cleaner Refill Concentrates. One tiny recyclable glass bottle makes a whole 500ml trigger pack. Leaving out the takeaways
Takeaways usually come in single-use, non-recyclable packaging. But who feels like cooking when you get home after a long day at work? Kitchen challenge: Prioritise your health, wallet and planet by cooking from scratch with loose fruit and veges from the produce section. Meal prepping on Sunday night can help you get through a busy week. PN ECOSTORE, 1 Scotland Street, Freemans Bay, T: 09 360 8477, www.ecostore.co.nz
PONSONBY NEWS+ July 2022
53
