Eco-friendly kitchen pantries have some common themes…
- Bulk food items in reusable bulk bags and containers. Bulk food cuts down on packaging considerably and most eco grocers and co-ops have fab bulk sections with everything from spices to flour to cereal to dried fruit to pasta. In fact you can usually get natural peanut butter in bulk even at most decent co-ops.
- Large size of stuff you use all the time. The larger the package the better the eco-deal. I.e. a huge jar of tomatoes for sauce vs. a tiny can.
- Food items that are free from double and triple packaging. It’s totally unnecessary to buy a box of food that’s sitting in a tray, wrapped in plastic, then placed in a box.
- No individually wrapped items. Fruit snacks, granola bars, seasoning, crackers for kids, and candy can all be found in bulk or in larger loose packaging.
- Bottles and jars that come with safety caps that pop – much better than shrink wrapped caps.
- Glass bottles of condiments and juice vs. plastic.
- Local and organic food items. At least a decent bulk of your food items should be organic, bulk and in season.
- Simple food items such as brown rice or plain noodles rice mixes and noodle mixes for instance.The former food items use more package than necessary and often contain lots of chemicals and preservatives.
What’s in your pantry – have you looked lately to see what you might be able to make greener?
