Wasteless Wednesday: Keeping a Clean Kitchen
Every Wednesday, I’m going to share with you some of my favorite ways to work toward a zero waste 24 hours in the kitchen. These tips are easy to implement, affordable (anyone else a fan of saving $$$?), and kind to our planet.
Welcome back to Wasteless Wednesday! I hope you've been following along with all of my posts so far, but if you haven't, go ahead and click on the Wasteless Wednesday tag and you'll get all the published articles in one place! I'm loving this series because 1) I want to educate as many people as possible about how easy it can be to use safer products and reduce waste, and 2) so many of you have sent me such wonderful feedback! This series seems to speak to many of you and I am so happy about that.
Today, we're going to talk a little bit about keeping a clean kitchen. It can be surprisingly easy to blow through a roll of paper towels in a day. Between cleaning up messes left by my kids and dogs and husband and, fine, myself, I feel like I am constantly wiping things up off surfaces around the kitchen. And, of course, I always reach for the paper towels first! When I started working on reducing my waste in the kitchen, making the switch from paper towels to reusable towels was a no-brainer. Yes, there are still times that call for paper towels, but they are few and far between. Along with switching to a reusable cloth option, I've really focused on choosing cleaning products that are safer for the environment and for my family.
Here are some of the items I use to keep my kitchen clean:
Grove All-Purpose Microfiber Cloth. I'm OBSESSED with these cloths! I have 4 of them and I use one a day for normal spills and for cleaning the counters. I wash them with my dishtowels once all four of them are dirty. This keeps them from getting smelly and gross. If I've cleaned up a particularly large spill, I'll wash the cloth out with dish soap and warm water, wring it out really well, and hang it up to dry. But honestly, it still absorbs quite well even if it is a bit damp. My paper towel use has gone down drastically and my wallet is very happy about that!
Glass Spray Bottles. I love these sweet glass spray bottles so much! They are cute and reusable and they don't ruin the look of a just-cleaned kitchen when they sit out on the counter. Plus, if you're into making your own cleaning products, these are excellent to have around. Otherwise, buy your cleaning solution in bulk and refill these babies as often as you need without going through a ton of plastic.
Leftover Lemon. I know. This seems random. But trust me when I say that a leftover lemon half is your new best friend! You can use them, along with some baking soda, so freshen your kitchen sink. Or you can toss the entire lemon half into the garbage disposal to take care of odors and, some say, to sharpen the blades. Need an air freshener? Toss half a lemon in a small or medium pot of water with 2 rosemary springs, a splash of vanilla extract, and a cinnamon stick. SO. GOOD.
Those are today's tips! And just for the record, none of these posts have been sponsored by anyone (nope, not even Grove). The links are to products I use and love and think would benefit you as well! What are you doing to go wasteless in your kitchen? Share your ideas and help us all be better stewards of the earth!
