In Germany alone, almost 13 million tons of food are thrown into the trash every year – an average of 85.2 kilograms per household. However, the total is not only made up of food that has expired (although they usually have a much longer shelf life), but also of leftover food. For a long time, the reason for this was the convenience of many people: instead of packaging their food so that it could be reused, they preferred to throw it away. However, due to the increasing awareness of sustainable products, there are more and more kitchen gadgets that offer you the opportunity to make food last longer in just a few simple steps – and at the same time produce less waste.
In most households, it is normal to store opened food in the refrigerator. To prevent them from drying out, they are often covered with cling film or aluminum foil – both products then end up in the trash. A sensible and much more environmentally friendly alternative is dishwasher-safe and extremely stretchy silicone lids, which are durable and leak-proof. They are simply placed over bowls, glasses, cans, pots, pans or melons and can then be reused.
Waxed cotton cloths are just as useful as they are practical. They are used like cling film or aluminum foil, but are made from 100 percent cotton, organic beeswax, organic jojoba oil and natural tree resin – which means they have antibacterial properties. In addition, the oilcloths can be washed and reused after use. This means you produce less waste when you have to bag, freeze or wrap food. To activate the wipes, simply rub them between your hands and warm them.
Due to the overuse of paper towels, up to 3,000 tons of them end up in the trash every day. If you still don’t want to do without your kitchen roll, you can use all-purpose cloths made from absorbent bamboo fibers: they are antibacterial, hypoallergenic and antimicrobial. The roll consists of a total of 20 cloths that can be washed up to 100 times – after each wash they become even softer and more absorbent! But what’s even better: One bamboo roll can replace up to 60 conventional paper kitchen rolls and protect the environment.
Did you know that baking paper is not only made of paper, but also usually contains silicone? The disposable product is used and thrown away as a matter of course in millions of households, although there have long been reusable baking mats made of Teflon that are heat-resistant, non-stick and even dishwasher safe. You can even custom cut these to fit your desired baking pan. This means you produce less waste and save yourself having to buy baking paper.
Do you know that too? You peel more onions or garlic cloves than you actually need – and you don’t want to throw away the leftovers, but you also don’t want to store them in the fridge. To avoid the strong smell that would slowly spread throughout the kitchen, the food ends up in the trash even though it is still good. To avoid this in the future, simply use food storage balls: the tightly closed halves ensure that your refrigerator remains odorless and the opened food remains durable. And can be reused the next time you cook.
If you own a toaster, you’ve probably stood by it, cursing, trying to scrape a burnt slice of bread off the grill. This is not only annoying, but also unnecessary – with the reusable Toastabags you can toast the slices in the future without any problems and without crumbs. The bags are particularly practical if you want to make a sandwich with cheese in it. The Teflon coating allows the sandwiches to be heated in the toaster without having to scrape the melted cheese out of the device. You can even warm up a slice of pizza in it.
Many foods such as onions and garlic, cheese and fish have a strong smell that lingers on our hands for several hours after every touch. Not only is it very unpleasant, it also smells like it. To counteract this, many people turn to chemical soaps that are supposed to neutralize the smell – and thereby produce a lot of plastic waste. A rust-free stainless steel soap is just as effective and is also long-lasting and environmentally friendly. All you have to do is rub the soap between your hands under running water for a few seconds to remove the odors.
By 2021 at the latest, you will no longer be able to buy straws made from plastic: from this year, single-use products will be banned in the EU. In Germany alone, 40 billion plastic straws are used every year. Straws made of reusable materials such as stainless steel, glass or silicone are therefore much more sensible and much more environmentally friendly. They can be easily cleaned, offer the same drinking experience, but do not pollute our oceans.
As delicious as watermelons taste, chopping them up is just as laborious: with the knife you often cut out the slices or pieces too generously, so that a lot of the pulp ends up in the trash. Watermelons, honeydew melons, papaya and pitaya can be filleted much faster, easier and cleaner with the melon cutter made of high-quality, food-grade stainless steel. In just a few seconds you can cut evenly sized pieces from a wide variety of fruits – without much effort or loss of pulp.
Here too, eating the delicious pulp requires work, but you can save yourself this work if you use an avocado cutter. To do this, you first remove the core and then cut the inside into six pieces – which are ready to serve immediately. The device is dishwasher safe and has an ergonomic silicone handle so that it fits firmly in the hand and prevents you from slipping when you want to cut the avocado.
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