20 sustainable kitchen swaps for a greener home, recommended by experts

“The number one best way to reduce waste in your kitchen is to start composting,” says Kathryn Kellogg, founder of Going Zero Waste. In addition to reducing the smell from your trash, making compost also helps keep food waste, which is the single largest component taking up space in US landfills according to the EPA,?from taking up more space and releasing harmful methane gas. While the first step in reducing food waste is buying less food and eating what you have, composting your leftover scraps that you can’t eat anyway helps too.

Kellogg recommends checking to see what compost programs are local to your area, since some cities like New York City offer curbside composting programs while other areas may require you to drop off your compost at a designated site. This Epica stainless steel bin is great if you're looking to get started composting your food scraps. And if you need help figuring out how to compost in the first place, we’ve got a guide on that too.

If you don’t want to deal with the stench of food scraps, this Lomi Composter has high-tech features that can turn your food waste into dirt in mere hours right from your countertop. It’s definitely on the higher end of countertop composters on the market, however, you can use the dirt it creates for your backyard garden or household plants.?

It’s estimated that globally one third of all food produced goes to waste. So you might have guessed that one way to be more sustainable is to cut back on food waste in your own home. Reusable containers like these from Rubbermaid not only cut back on the use of plastic bags and wrappers, but also allow you to easily store leftovers in your fridge, freezer or lunch box.

Batista recommends looking up the model of your home fridge and learning how you can maximize organization to prevent waste. “That's really important,” says Batista. “Because when you store foods in the wrong place in the fridge, they do go off quicker.”

Beeswax wrappers are another tool to help save your food without reaching for single-use plastic. And while they might be more expensive up front, we found they’re reusable for much longer than their plastic counterparts and actually might save you a few dollars in the long run.

We’ve tested Stasher Bags for ourselves and found them to be a great option for on-the-go snacking, microwaving and freezing your favorite foods. Plus, they’re available in tons of sizes and colors to fit any job you might need.

If you love stocking up on fresh produce but hate all those grocery store plastic bags, try these reusable produce bags. Perfect for your weekend trips to the farmer’s market or any daily grocery store run, you can even repurpose them as laundry bags for your more delicate items.

Not only are reusable grocery bags sturdier than plastic ones, but you also won’t be left with a bundle of excess bags you seldom have use for. Plus, you probably already have a few spare bags around the house that you could use for grocery shopping. Stash a few in the trunk of your car or somewhere near your door, so you don’t forget them when the time comes to do your haul. If you don't already have bags on hand, these Gogooda bags are a great option since they can be folded down and stored in a purse, pocket or backpack for those last-minute errands. And they’re machine-washable, so they won’t be ruined by a busted or broken container.

Kellogg’s kitchen is a plastic-wrap- and aluminum-foil-free space. “Aluminum foil is most often used for tenting, or in the oven to prevent things from getting burned or too brown on top,” says Kellogg. “That can be achieved just by putting another pan on top as well.” Or if you’re using foil because you just really detest scrubbing down your pans, try using one of these Mmat Silicone Baking Sheets, which are easy to wipe clean and, if you’re really not in a tidying mood, dishwasher-safe too. Read our review of them here.

Dishwasher-safe and oven-safe up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit, these Prepd sheets make single-pan meals a breeze and eliminate the need for aluminum foil or parchment. Plus, you can snag the matching lids to make cleanup and leftovers storage even easier.

One of the simplest swaps you can make is switching out your single-use paper towels for a reusable option. “A paper product is something you buy knowing that you're going to throw it out,” says Batista “Imagine if you bought a sweater with the same mentality; I'm going to buy this sweater today, I'm going to wear it today, and four times and then I'm gonna throw it away.” These Swedish dishcloths are much beloved by our readers and reviewers alike.

If you’re worried about how reusable cloths will handle messier tasks, Batista recommends designating certain cloths for dirty jobs, like wiping away raw meat juices or doing deep cleaning. You can even use a permanent marker to label the cloths for different tasks throughout your home. These Swedish dishcloths from Wet-It come in a variety of colors and designs so you can find the ones that best fit your home aesthetic.

If you prefer the feel of a more cloth-like towel over the cellulose of a Swedish dishcloth, try these reusable towels from ZeroWastely. These towels naturally cling to each other and come with a reusable roll, so you can keep them on the same stand you already have for your paper towels.

Like many other kitchen items, traditional sponges aren’t easily recyclable. Instead, try these compostable scrubbers by Miw Piw as a replacement for all your plastic scrubs.

Batista loves this simple bamboo pot scraper tool for loosening food and grime stuck on cookware. “It makes it so easy to get rid of the food that's on that pan and you actually end up reducing the amount of water that you use,” says Batista.

If you love soda or sparkling water, Kellogg recommends you consider investing in a Soda Stream so you can enjoy your favorite beverages at home or on the go, but leave behind all the unnecessary cans and bottles.

Ditch the case of plastic water bottles and have a Brita for your home instead. And if you want water with you when you leave your house as well, consider investing in a sturdy water bottle to carry with you.?

For all the cooking you do in your kitchen, you also do a fair amount of cleaning it. This plant-based ingredient cleaning bundle from Blueland is good for any room in your house and includes a multi-purpose, bathroom and glass cleaner, plus a hand soap dispenser. Once you have the brand’s reusable Forever Bottles, just grab the concentrated tablet and mix with water when you need to restock. Read our full review of Blueland here.

Sub out your dishwashing liquid for this reusable Power Dish Spray from Dropps. One concentrated bottle yields six refillable rounds of washing and the spray bottle design makes it easier to soap up hard-to-reach areas. Read our review of Dropps here.

While everyone is entitled to their morning cup of joe, single-use coffee pods like K-Cups and Nespresso pods are hard to recycle and manage as waste, though the companies have made some effort to be more sustainable. If you don’t want to close up shop on your favorite appliance, opt for a reusable K-cup that you can fill with your favorite ground coffee and cut out plastics in your brewing routine.

If you prefer drip or pour-over coffee, try changing out your regular coffee filters for a compostable option. And when your brew is finished, you can chuck the filter with all its grounds right in the compost bin.