Reduce Plastic in Your Kitchen
Your kitchen is one of the easiest and most impactful places to make your home more sustainable—and moving toward a plastic-free kitchen brings health benefits, too. Many everyday kitchen products contain chemicals like endocrine disruptors, which can leach into food over time. And while recycling is better than tossing plastics in the trash, global recycling systems are struggling to keep up—many plastics still end up in landfills or the ocean. The less we bring into our homes in the first place, the better for both our health and the planet.
The good news? Many kitchen purchases happen on autopilot—foil, cling wrap, baggies, takeout containers. Changing those habits now can create long-term impact without constant extra effort. Small, intentional shifts today can set you up for a kitchen that’s naturally lower in waste for years to come.
Start by gathering some data. Just like tracking spending or counting steps, keeping an eye on what you’re throwing out gives you the clearest roadmap for change. Tape a scrap sheet of paper above your trash can (and another above your recycling bin if they’re in different spots), along with a pencil. Every time you toss or recycle a plastic item, jot it down. If it’s already on the list, just add a tally mark. After a week or two, you’ll have a personalized snapshot of your kitchen’s biggest plastic culprits—making it easy to tackle the most common offenders first and work your way down from there.
Why Reduce Your Plastic Use?
Reducing plastic use in the kitchen benefits both your health and the environment. Many plastics, especially those that come into contact with food, can contain chemicals like BPA, phthalates, or other endocrine disruptors that may leach into meals—particularly when heated or exposed to acidic ingredients. Over time, lowering your reliance on plastic food storage, utensils, and packaging can reduce your exposure to these substances. Opting for alternatives like glass, stainless steel, silicone, or natural fibers not only makes your kitchen safer but often improves durability and food quality—your leftovers will taste fresher in glass than in plastic.
Environmentally, every piece of plastic you avoid keeps potential waste out of landfills, oceans, and wildlife habitats. Recycling systems are far from perfect, and many kitchen plastics—especially films, wraps, and multi-layer packaging—are difficult or impossible to recycle. By making conscious swaps, such as reusable produce bags, compostable scrubbers, or bulk pantry storage jars, you directly reduce the amount of single-use packaging entering your home. Over time, these changes ripple outward, lowering your household’s carbon footprint, supporting sustainable brands, and setting a positive example for others. In short, a plastic-light kitchen is an investment in your health, your community, and the planet’s future.
15 Ways to Reduce Plastic Use for a Plastic-Free Kitchen
Here are some swap ideas to get you started. Keep in mind that some may be more relevant to you than others—start with the list you made above, not this one. But hopefully you will find something helpful on it for your own version of a plastic-free kitchen!
Plastic hand soap and dish soap bottles. Consider using bar soap (it’s available for both hands and dishes!), refilling a glass pump-style jar at a local bulk foods store, or finding soap in a bottle you can compost.
Dishwashing sponge containing microplastics (more on microplastics at A Waste Free World). Consider one of the many lovely biodegradable options out there instead.
Cleaning supplies in plastic bottles. Consider using glass spray bottles in which you can mix up some concentrated cleaner or make your own out of white vinegar.
Plastic wrap. We switched to storing leftovers in hand-me-down (and beloved!) Corning ware dishes with glass lids. If you don’t have these in your basement, they are available at your local thrift shop and every estate sale. You can also get reusable food wrap made of beeswax.
Plastic containers for refrigerated leftovers. Speaking of Corning ware, it comes in all sizes, it can go in the dishwasher, it can go in the microwave, and if you throw it accurately, the right piece could probably disable a home invader. So basically it’s perfect for leftovers. Frozen leftovers are a little harder, but people love Stasher bags and other silicone-based, reusable bags.
Plastic sandwich bags. Consider beeswax-based food wraps or reusable sandwich bags. We send lunches to school in a Planet Box and have a couple of more adult bento boxes for the grown-ups.
Individual coffee pods (here's how to optimize your coffee habit). Consider using a refillable pod or a coffee machine that does not require them.
Unnecessary packaging. Consider the alternatives to what you normally buy—the ones that ended up on your list. For example, we switched from individually wrapped tea bags that come in a box that comes wrapped in plastic to tea that comes in an aluminum jar. The jar is refillable, loose tea goes straight into the teapot strainer, and plain used teabags can be composted.
Plastic bags for produce. Consider using washable produce bags instead of the disposable ones at the grocery store.
Fresh herb clamshells. If you find yourself using one or two fresh herbs more regularly than others, would it be possible to grow some on your windowsill?
Plastic soda bottles. Consider switching to aluminum cans or maybe even stock your plastic-free kitchen with a home soda machine with refillable canisters (we get ours from sodasense).
Containers of things sold in bulk. If you can find a good bulk section near you, a collection of glass jars will go a long way for you. Bonus: you’ll know at a glance how much you have left of any given item. No need to remember how much is hiding in the package. Don’t forget you aren’t limited to mason-style jars—you can use a refillable spritzer for olive oil and a refillable honey jar for honey, if you so choose.
Containers for things you could make. If you like to bake, for example, you don’t need to buy bread wrapped in plastic.
Containers for things you could buy elsewhere. If you don’t like to bake, for example, you could find a bakery that will sell you a loaf a bread without wrapping it in plastic first. Here’s another use for your washable produce bags.
Containers with alternatives. At the end of the day, sometimes one brand of pasta sauce comes in plastic, and the one next to it comes in glass. You can choose the one in glass. Or, fill your plastic-free kitchen with refillable containers from a local zero waste shop or bulk foods store, if there’s one near you, or an online supplier like Loop. (Plaine Products is another online supplier with refillable containers; they don’t have food, but they do have hand soap!)
If you can’t get rid of something in plastic entirely yet, consider if you can get it in a concentrated version. Less plastic is a step in the right direction too.
Is there something you love that you wish didn’t come only in plastic? Reach out to the company that makes it and ask if they have any alternative packaging. Maybe they do, or maybe they’ll think about it for the future. If you’re talking to a small business in your community, maybe they can help you arrange for a purchase in your own container. Not only will that help you on your way to a plastic-free kitchen, it may help them think about how to offer it to the rest of your community too!
