This tip is part of the Mastering the Art of Sustainable Cooking contest.
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A paper towel here, a bit of plastic wrap there… it may seem like just a drop in the bucket each time you use disposable kitchen supplies, but the aggregate impact of all that waste is enormous. Every year, Americans throw out over 2000 tons of paper and plastic plates and cups, 393 tons of aluminum, and 3500 tons of plastic containers. Most of that can be avoided, with huge financial and environmental gains, if we just shift our thinking from disposable to reusable.

Durable dishes, sponges, tupperware, and grocery bags eliminate both waste in landfills and the impact of producing disposable products. They also save you money over the long run. Plus, whether you’re eating filet mignon or frozen pizza, it can’t hurt to replace that paper place setting with a touch of class.

How do you reduce your use of disposable goods?

18 people have completed this.

2 people like this action. I like this action.

People's experiences completing this action

  1. spazdoglee spazdoglee completed this on January 21 5:12 PM

    We use mostly cloth towels/napkins and also use aluminum foil instead of plastic bags for freezing. We never ever use paper/styrofoam/plastic plates, cups or tableware, and don’t use disposable ’gl…

  2. ladycat713 ladycat713 completed this on December 31, 2009 6:19 PM

    WE had a lot of frozen dinners that we had been given that had fairly sturdy plastic dishes. I reused the dishes to make my own frozen dinners so that we would use things already in our cabinet and…

  3. dideybug dideybug completed this on December 31, 2009 11:58 AM

    using my linens on the table makes every meal feel special!

  4. goodfood goodfood completed this on December 29, 2009 2:55 PM

    When we went to a concert at a football stadium, we collected all the cups that were left. We washed them and made sure they were completely clean. Now we have thirty or so reusable cups to use whe…

  5. MILee MILee completed this on December 06, 2009 8:08 PM

    We use stanless tableware and washable porcelain dishes. We do use paper napkins, but re-use them meal after meal until they are soiled and then use them for wipe-ups.

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