8 Must-Have Zero Waste Kitchen Essentials

I don’t know about you but I used to think of having a zero waste kitchen as being almost impossible to achieve! Before I set up my blog, I had a picture in my head of someone holding a mason jar full of the plastic they had collected for the entire year and it completely put me off.

However, I have since learned that although being zero waste is the aim – it might not be achievable for everyone. That-being-said I hope my list of zero waste products and routines are useful for getting you started with creating a more low waste kitchen in your home.

This post contains affiliate links which means I make a small profit if you buy through my link. I would never recommend something I didn’t believe in or wouldn’t buy myself, thank you for your support.

How Can I Be Zero Waste In My Kitchen

So having a more zero waste kitchen is not just about what you buy, it’s about what you do as well.

In the interest of full disclosure, my kitchen is not 100% plastic free. I have several tupperware style containers which are plastic and also plates, cups etc for my children which are also plastic. The most sustainable option is always using what you have first and foremost and due to this I only replace things with a more sustainable version, if they’re broken and not fixable.

I’m an imperfect environmentalist and there are definitely some areas which I could improve in the future though.

“We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.” – Anne Marie Bonneau

What Is A Zero Waste Kitchen

Put as simply as possible: a zero waste kitchen is the process of everything that you bring into the kitchen or do in the kitchen – as creating as little waste as possible. This applies to how you shop for food, how you recycle or reuse packaging and what you do with food scraps.

If you want to learn more about the definition of zero waste, you can read my post is zero waste possible?

Steps To Take Towards A Zero Waste Kitchen

Some of the main ways you can be zero waste in the kitchen:

• Collect jars from food items you’ve bought, since you’re already buying these foods they are essentially free containers to reuse continuously. I love to reuse jars for storing food in the fridge or freezer, for general storage in the house, for giving people homemade gifts and I also decorated some for Halloween.
• Buy in bulk as much as you can, make use of what you have available to you in your area and circumstances. If you can only get a 2kg bag of rice in plastic for example, then buy that as it’s less waste overall. For the things that you use a lot of eg pasta etc, make it a habit to buy the biggest bags you can. (If you have the room to store it of course)
• Start composting, if you don’t have a food waste collection service in your area then composting your food waste is essential for a zero waste kitchen. There are also a lot of creative ways you can use food scraps as well, like make apple cider vinegar from apple cores and you can even use vegetable peelings to make your own vegetable stock.
• Make your own zero waste cleaners, there are a lot of household ingredients that make excellent non toxic cleaners for the home and kitchen. Some of my favourites are vinegar, citric acid and baking soda. I also tend to buy a 5litre of eco washing up liquid and use that for all sorts of general cleaning around the home too.

What About If You’re On A Budget

Even if you’re on a budget, you can still work towards being more sustainable in the kitchen. It’s important to remember that using what you have is always the more sustainable choice anyway.

People sometimes ask is sustainable living expensive? and my answer is normally no and yes..

Some of the main things that you can do in a zero waste kitchen ie saving mason jars for storing food and making your own cleaners are a great way of saving money. Even things like buying in bulk and using reusable cloths for cleaning will all save you so much money long-term.

You don’t need to go out and replace everything you own with stainless steel or glass versions, in fact I will even go so far in saying that this is almost adding to the problem! My general rule is, if it still works I will continue to use it until it doesn’t and when this happens, I will replace it.

8 Zero Waste Kitchen Essentials

These are just some things that I have found really useful to have in my kitchen, however there is no right or wrong way of doing this. Just find which products work best for you.

Mason Jars

Jars are my favourite zero waste kitchen product, I really love them! I definitely have my favourites that I collect and wash out for reuse, like the larger saurekraut jars and the adorable tiny ones.

I will admit that I’m very fortunate in that my Mum has given me some beautiful vintage glass jars from the 70’s so I haven’t needed to buy any larger glass containers for storing food. These are great for storing chickpeas, pasta and flour.

However thrift stores and Facebook Marketplace are great places to look out for vintage glass jars for storing your food.

In the meantime, collecting your own glass jars for storage is an amazing free way of using jars. Cleaning the labels off can be a bit tricky so I tend to leave mine soaking overnight in washing up water so that they come off really easily the next day.

Containers For Storage

It can be useful to have some other types of storage for food because somethings just don’t fit very well in glass jars. Plus glass can be quite heavy if you’re going for a walk and then a picnic for example.

Stainless steel lunch boxes are beautiful and very handy for lunches and storing leftover food in the fridge.

Another great alternative for storing food is wheatgrass containers, I’ve seen a lot more of these coming up recently. They have all the benefits of plastic, ie they’re strong and lightweight but they are a natural material so they will breakdown much faster than plastic.

It’s worth noting that the reason I tend to avoid storing hot food in tupperware these days is because there’s a chance that the plastic can leach into your food. Using alternatives like glass, wheatgrass and steel is a great way of avoiding this. I then just keep my plastic containers for cold foods instead.

There are other things that you can use to store or protect food such as stasher bags and wax wraps, however I personally haven’t used any of those and wouldn’t want to recommend something I don’t have experience with myself.

Silicone Baking Sheets

This is an amazing zero waste product, it’s definitely one of my favourites. Reusable baking sheets will save you so much money because you just wash it after using and you save the usual waste that comes with using aluminium foil or paper baking rolls.

If you particularly like baking then silicone cupcake cups are another great thing to have in your kitchen. You can all sorts of other things for your kitchen like silicone ice cube trays and lolly moulds but these aren’t going to be essential for everyone.

Charcoal Water Filters

I didn’t know for ages that what was in the water filter cartridges is crushed up charcoal! 🤯 Charcoal is great at soaking up all of the impurities from the water and making it taste soo much better. I haven’t used the plastic cartridges for a few years now and I only buy the plastic free charcoal which you just put directly in the water instead.

Some of the charcoal lasts longer than others, however you can also do other things with it once you’ve finished using it to filter water. For example you can put it in the fridge to get rid of odours or put it in areas of your house that are prone to damp and condensation.

Spray Bottles For Cleaning

Glass spray bottles are really handy for storing your cleaning products in, whether you use cleaning drops or make your own cleaners. However, you don’t necessarily need to use glass, you can just use plastic spray bottles if you already have some. Check out my zero waste cleaning products post for more tips.

Glass bottles certainly are very aesthetically pleasing though and unless you’re ridiculously clumsy like me… then you will find them super handy to have in your kitchen. I tend to reuse plastic spray bottles that I’ve acquired because I don’t trust myself not to knock my glass one over!

Bamboo Dish Brush

I’ve always liked to use a dish brush to wash my dishes, I find it cleans everything really well and because I wash dishes by hand, I do like anything that makes my life a bit easier.

There are definitely some dish brushes that are better than others. What’s really handy though is the ones you can buy that have the removable heads generally are universal so when you buy a repacement head as long as you pick the correct size, then it should fit regardless of the brand. The below button is the exact bamboo dish brush I use and it’s brilliant.

Something else that I find really handy is a coconut scourer for using when you have something that requires a bit of extra scrubbing. I also use one of these purely for scrubbing the labels off of jars, because some labels are particularly stubborn!

Shopping Bags

In my opinion these next two are definitely must-have zero waste kitchen products. No matter where or how you buy your shopping, you will likely need a reusable bag or two to carry what you buy.

If you have a zero waste store close to you, the easiest and lightest way to buy dried goods is with various sizes cotton bags and if you can pick them up secondhand, that’s even better. They can also be used for loose fruit and vegetables as well and you can put them in the wash if they get dirty.

The large ‘bags for life’ are also really helpful, you just need to remember to bring them with you! 😅

Cleaning Cloths & Rags

Cleaning cloths, sponges and rags are just what you need for a zero waste kitchen. I think in the age of wipes, people forgot that actually using a cloth which you can wash – is the most economical way of cleaning your home. You can use cloths to clean little childrens faces, for surfaces and even washing up if you prefer a cloth for this purpose.

I like to save old clothes for rags as well, if you’re cleaning a car for example then a big piece of material works great.

I hope you’ve found the list of zero waste kitchen essentials helpful, I want to reiterate that although I’ve found these things to be useful in creating a more zero waste kitchen – you might not necessarily need them all. Just use it as some ideas for zero waste swaps you can make.

If you want regular sustainable inspiration that’s suitable for beginners, you can sign up to my monthly newsletter below.

You can also follow me on Instagram, where I’m the most active or on my YouTube channel.