9 Ways We’re Making Our Kitchens More Sustainable
As the weather warms, we’re dreaming about long Sunday afternoon lunches with friends, glorious local produce and vibrant cooking. But how can we make our kitchen more sustainable? Here are just a few ways we’re switching it up to make our kitchens more friendly to the earth.
Swap For Zero Waste And Plastic Free
Of course, one of the most obvious moves to make is swapping out your kitchen tools and consumables for plastic free, zero waste options. Don’t chuck out all your stuff willy-nilly though – wait until you’re due to replace, consider hitting up a store like Freo’s Zero. Home to one of Australia’s largest ranges of zero-waste products, you can pick up goodies like dish soap blocks, reusable storage pouches, or wooden and natural fibre dish brushes.
181A High Street, Fremantle
Buy In Bulk
Swapping out your tools is only one half of the equation – what about all those pantry goods you’re actually cooking with? We’re lucky to have a growing number of bulk and low-waste stores where you can stock up on your staples without the plastic. The Storehouse has become a one-stop shop for all your bulk needs. Wall-to-wall spices, legumes, grains and flours, as well as heaps of tasty ready-to-eat snacks if you need something for that 3 pm slump. With an impressive range of cleaning and body products, these guys are on a mission to make sustainable, zero-waste living as straightforward as possible. You can check out even more low-waste stores HERE.
22/219 Hampton Road, South Fremantle
Shop Local And In Season
The third step in your new shopping ethos? Grab your reusable bags and shop locally and in season. For all your fresh produce, hit up your local greengrocers or farmer’s market and get to know what’s in season and when. Not only will your produce taste even better, but it will have way lower food miles, and you’ll be supporting local growers, makers and artisans. (The delicious snacks don’t hurt, either). For all of our favourite farmer’s markets across Perth, click HERE.
Photo via Subi Farmer’s Market
Sign Up For A Cooking Workship
One of the best ways to make the most out of your produce is to get confident in how to use it! By expanding your culinary repertoire, you’ve always got a recipe in your arsenal to make use of what’s in season, or what’s languishing at the bottom of the vegetable crisper or the back of the pantry. Even better? If they can convert you into enjoying a plant-based meal or two! We’ve rounded up some of Perth’s best cooking workshops over HERE for you to check out.
Pickle It All!
It might have become a bit of a hipster cliché, but you really can pickle just about anything. It’s a fantastic way to preserve produce throughout the off-season, as well as use up your odds and ends that are at risk of going to waste. Shenton Park’s Cultured Living are passionate about all things fermentation, pickling and preserving, running workshops where you can learn how to do it yourself, and an online store with all the goodies you might need.
Get Composting
Ok, you’ve bought all your local produce, you’ve whipped up some stunning dishes, you’ve pickled your leftover bits and pieces… but there’s still a few scraps to deal with. Urban Revolution are some of Perth’s foremost composting aficionados, stocking all the gear you’ll need to get started as well as running workshops on composting – whether you live on a rambling property or an inner-city apartment. These guys also have heaps of garden goodies, like insect and bee hotels, plus a Terra Cycle recycling system, where you can drop off hard to recycle products (think stuff like Nespresso pods, mail satchels or toothpaste tubes). Bonza!
284 Albany Highway, Victoria Park
Learn To Grow Your Own Food
While you’re at Urban Revolution, you might want to check out their range of gardening goodies. Just like with composting, there are options to grow your own your food whether you’ve got a huge veggie patch or a just a window box to work with. Just try and get a lower food mile than from your backyard. You can even grow food from your scraps and cuttings – how many of those spring onion ends have you just chucked in the bin? You may as well chuck some cash in there too, while you’re at it! Plus, you can’t get a sweeter sense of smugness than when you serve your friends up something delicious and say “Oh, this? I grew it myself!”
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Go Plant-Based
We might be a team of carnivores, but even we can see the benefits of a plant-based meal every now and again. With all your newfound culinary skills, you’ll have all the recipes and amazing produce up your sleeves to make some absolutely delish plant-based meals. Why not give Meatless Monday a whirl? We bet there’s be a few more vego days in there in no time.
Connect With Friends
If there’s one thing we’ve learnt from the last year, it’s how important our community is. Why not get the whole crew in on the sustainable action? Maybe someone’s got a lemon tree that won’t quit, or a super lush herb garden? Well, someone else has really nailed their veggie patch this year, and has even made a big batch of soup that they just won’t get through. Pool your delicious resources, swap and share your home-grown goodies – even better if it’s with your neighbours.
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