by Meg and Jen (aka Green Divas)

Aside from gathering the freshest, healthiest, most nourishing locally and responsibly grown food for our pantries, we have some sustainable habits we find help not only minimize the waste, but maximize the output of yummy and fun food.

Here are a few ‘Fresh Ideas’ for your sustainable kitchen:

• Recycle

This may seem elementary, but a lot of people don’t realize how much they throw away that could be recycled.

• Cardboard - we breakdown EVERY cardboard package and put it in a crate where ALL of our junk mail goes.
• Plastic - most plastic containers are recyclable. yes, another bin, but saves a lot in the landfills!
• Composting - there are a lot of inexpensive and easy products around to help set up a variety of kitchen composting scenarios. Meg has a stainless steel composting bin and she uses compostable bags to help gather all her food scraps to help create luscious soil for the gardens. NOTE: if you don’t have a garden, you can see if there is a local community garden who might be very happy to have your kitchen scraps.

• Reuse
  • Paper Towels - We can’t say we’ve successfully elminiated the use of these handy things entirely, but what we have found is a great local source for 100% recycled paper content paper towels THAT AREN’T OUTRAGEOUSLY PRICED. Check out Marcal. The amazing thing is that they’ve always used recycled paper! Who knew?
  • Sponges & Cloth - There are a mess (punn intended) of cool eco-friendly sponges out there, including the Casabella Faucet Sponge and we found these wonderful biodegradable (after several washes) bamboo kitchen towels!
  • Cloth Napkins - We’ve both collected a variety of cloth napkins and have trained our families to reach for them.

• Cleaning

We each have our favorites, but we both use almost exclusively non-toxic, earth-friendly cleaning products for kitchen as well as the rest of the house. See Meg & Jen’s Picks or our test comparisons for details on some of our favorites.

• Plastic Baggies - NO. Neither of us having plastic bags drying all over our kitchen! However, we did stumble upon an interesting product that helps clean them in the dishwasher! See Meg & Jen’s Picks for details on Bag-e-Wash.

Okay, well that’s just a start. Stay tuned for more Fresh Ideas for the Sustainable Kitchen from the Green Divas.

Meanwhile, we have some new recipes to share, so go to Relevant Delights and consider a warm, healthy Mexican style meal over this cold winter’s weekend!

About the Author

The Green Divas are living, always learning, and loving the practical sustainable lifestyle with their families. They share their experiences and relevant resources through their website, www.RelevantTimes.com, and their blog, www.RelevantTimesDiva.blogspot.com.