Most water filter pitchers are made of BPA-free plastic. But as new research shows that bottled-water drinkers ingest tens of thousands of excess microplastic particles, wellness lovers have begun to look askance at water filters that are themselves made of plastic.
Even long after the tell-tale odor of new paint has vanished, traditional paint can off-gas for months, releasing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that have been linked to organ and nervous system damage, cancer, and infertility.
Rather than tossing or recycling those empty take-out containers, why not give them another purpose and use them for pantry storage? As she revealed on her blog, Stewart uses her leftover deli containers to store all sorts of dry goods in her pantry, like salt, pepper, and other spices, which keeps her pantry in her farm in upstate New York tidy and organized.
Never place batteries of any type in your curbside recycling bin. Batteries can damage recycling equipment and, if lithium batteries are mixed in, cause fires. Always use designated battery collection programs.
Whether you've lost the lid to your favorite pan or you're trying to use less plastic wrap in your kitchen, silicone lids can play an important role in your kitchen routine. Some of these lids are large enough to cover a pan on the stove, preventing excess moisture from escaping. Others are smaller and are ideal for covering cups, bowls, and food storage containers that don't have tops.
If you spend a lot of time in the kitchen, you may find yourself needing to use a lot of disposable plastic products, from plastic bags to plastic wrap. While these tools can come in handy once in a while, a lot of sustainability- and health-conscious home cooks try to avoid them as much as possible. There are concerns that chemicals leached from plastic wrap could cause health issues, and being disposable and decidedly not biodegradable, many view these types of food storage tools as bad for the environment as well (and a great way to cut down on plastic waste in the kitchen).
Whether you're whipping up a labor-intensive meal or are working from home at a stand-up desk, these cushioned floor mats are about to make your legs and back so much happier. They're made with memory foam and supportive padding to help ease pressure on your joints as you stand. They're also waterproof to stand up to spills and splashes, and come in a variety of colors and sizes to suit your space.
Cleaning pros say that this is a kitchen cleaning task you should do every one to three months to prevent a buildup of food splatters, grease, oil, and dust - all of which could damage the walls, cause foul odors, and attract pests like flies and roaches.
Instead of using parchment paper (which comes with its own set of potential mistakes to make), which you can use a maximum of a few times before you have to throw it out, you can keep using the same silicone baking mat over and over again. They're also great when you want to keep a really even, consistent temperature while baking your pastries, since they're known for distributing heat well.
It's likely that you've encountered recycled glass countertops without realizing it. They're far from the hippie-style broken-glass mosaic art of yesteryear, instead presenting as sleek, highly polished, professional slabs with intriguing bits of confetti-style color trapped inside. That's the recovered glass bits set into a binding material such as resin, cement, or concrete, and then smoothly polished so that the composite surface feels like stone.
Europe's supermarket shelves are packed with brands billing their plastic packaging as sustainable, but often only a fraction of the materials are truly recovered from waste, with the rest made from petroleum. Brands using plastic packaging from Kraft's Heinz Beanz to Mondelez's Philadelphia use materials made by the plastic manufacturing arm of the oil company Saudi Aramco. The Saudi state-owned holding opposes production cuts under the UN plastic treaty and is the world's largest corporate greenhouse-gas emitter (over 70m tonnes up to 2023).
Using one in place of a cloth dinner napkin was unacceptable, and if I ever used more than a single perforated sheet to wipe up a spill then I'd expect to hear about it. It wasn't until I was a fully grown adult, responsible for stocking my own kitchen, that I understood why: Paper towels aren't cheap! They're also super wasteful, which is why I've made the switch to the more sustainable and budget-friendly Stasher Reusable Swedish Dishcloths - and I'm never going back.
You probably already know that it's generally not a good idea to expose plastic - like food storage containers, for instance - to high temperatures. After all, it can cause chemicals in the plastic to leach into your food. It probably shouldn't come as a huge surprise, then, that it's also a bad idea to use plastic wrap under very high heat. This is because plastic wrap melts very easily when exposed to high temps,
Households are pledging not to buy anything new in 2026 - not just in the kitchen space. This movement, aimed toward curbing consumerism, stems from multiple causes, including the rising prices of products (and living, more broadly) and the desire to cut back on impulse spending, reduce waste, and challenge the notion that new products are superior to used.