Do you feel overwhelmed by your stuff? Stressed? Anxious? Does the sight of plastic strewn about the streets send you into convulsions or bouts of swearing? It’s time to try Zero Waste™.
mason jars
How to Equip a Kitchen When You Start Out or Start Over
When you choose kitchen tools, look for multi-purpose items. Yesterday on Instagram, two people sent me messages asking how to equip a kitchen from scratch. One was moving to a new apartment. The second? The Camp Fire had razed her home in Paradise, California. I can’t imagine losing my home in one of these mega-fires—the […]
Kitchen Gadgets You Didn’t Know You Already Own
A flimsy plastic kitchen gadget that should not exist inspired this post: the Evriholder Avo Saver Avocado Holder. Shaped like one half of an avocado, with a round indentation for the seed and an adjustable rubber strap, this gadget buckles in the half avocado you didn’t eat so you can store it in the refrigerator and […]
A Zero-Waste Kit That Costs Zero Dollars
My daughter Mary Katherine rarely writes posts on the blog she started as a teenager, The Plastic-Free Chef. She did however write one a couple of weeks ago on how, as a busy, cash-strapped student, she finds the zero-waste lifestyle inaccessible. I’m simply too poor. We need more solutions to deal with waste that don’t […]
How to Remove Labels and Smells from Jars
Updated 02/06/18 I am a crazy jar lady. (And a crazy cat lady, but this post is about jars…) I had no idea when I went plastic-free in 2011 that I would develop a jar obsession. I can’t hoard enough jars, although I won’t settle for just any jar I can get my hands on […]
My Favorite Kitchen Gadgets
In my tiny kitchen, every item must earn its keep. I do own some gadgets that I use infrequently—such as my food mill and cherry pitter—but sure am happy to have them when I need them. This list includes items I find indispensable and use at least every week and often every day. 1. Jars, […]
How to Freeze Food Without Using Plastic
When I post pictures of my jar-filled freezer on social media, I get lots of questions about it, usually along the following lines: Is it safe to freeze food in glass? (Yes) Do you use special glass for the freezer? (No) Don’t your glass containers break? (Only that one time…) I have had little trouble […]
Gifts in Jars: Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix
Click here to jump to the recipe If you’re like me—in panic mode/denial about the date—and need a quick, thoughtful Christmas gift, you can throw together this cookie-mix-in-a-jar present in a few minutes and maybe also spur a conversation with your recipient about zero-waste and plastic-free living. Think of it as a quiet, delicious way […]
A Tour of My Tiny Kitchen
Updated 10/20/17 I’ve moved to a different unit since writing this but he setup is the same. Last week, a reader left this suggestion in the comments: I would love it if you could do a tour of your kitchen in a future blog post. I would love to see which tools you find most […]
8 Tactics to Reduce Food Waste at Home
Updated 10/29/18 Food waste is a huge—but edible—problem. These eight tips will help you reduce food waste at home and save money. 1. Buy less food more frequently If you shop a couple of times a week and buy only what you need, you will enjoy fresher food and waste less of it. Yes, I realize some people […]
7 Tips for a Zero-Waste Kitchen
Updated 01/05/18 I love my (nearly) zero-waste kitchen routine. I eat a delicious, healthy diet and have simplified my shopping habits. But it did take me a couple of years to (nearly) perfect this routine and I may never achieve complete zero-waste. (Remember calculus class? You merely approach zero.)