At Rehome, we love a practical win. Preloved kitchens save materials before you even start cooking. But the day-to-day choices matter too. Here are the simplest swaps we recommend to cut plastic at the source and make your kitchen a little more environmentally friendly.
In 2016, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation warned that, on our current path, there could be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050 (by weight), a stark reminder that everyday choices matter.
The good news: momentum is building. Plastic Free July reported 174 million participants in 2024, making it the world’s largest plastic-waste-avoidance campaign. If you’re joining this July, or getting a head start now, your kitchen is the smartest place to begin. Find out how you can make some sustainable kitchen swaps here.
Our kitchens are a hotbed for plastics and non bio-degradable products: from clingfilm and sandwich bags, to the very materials that make up our kitchen cabinets. So, to make it even easier for you to start reducing plastic waste and #GoPlasticFree, we have compiled our favourite handy tips for your kitchen:
Plastic-free Trust Mark
Reducing plastic waste in your kitchen starts with avoiding unnecessary plastics in the supermarket. Environmental campaign group A Plastic Planet have recently created the Plastic Free Trust Mark, a label that informs shoppers whether food and drink products use plastic packaging. The initiative hopes to make consumers more aware of their plastic consumption and encourages them to reduce the purchasing of single-use plastic packaged products.
Iceland didn’t hit its 2023 “plastic-free own-label” deadline, but reports a 51% reduction in own label plastic since 2017 and continued progress.
So, the next time you pop out to the shops, keep an eye out for products with the Plastic Free Trust Mark, and of course remember to bring your own re-useable shopping bag.
Refill and reuse is another great way to reduce plastic waste. The Refill Coalition reported strong adoption for in-store refill stations and high return rates online. Ocado has piloted reusables for staples like rice and pasta. (Some retailers have paused trials; cost and logistics reasons, but the direction is clear. Use the Refill app to find 20,000+ UK refill stations for water and more.
Plastic-free tea bags
Us Brits consume 165 million cups of tea per day in the UK alone – with 96% of those cuppas made from tea bags. However, what many of us aren’t aware of is the plastic that these tea bags contain.
Tea bags are made of a plastic called polypropylene, the same plastic used to make drinking straws and bottle tops. In tea bags, it is used as a sealant to keep the bags shut, as well as helping them maintain their shape. Though the amount of plastic in each teabag may be small, the whopping 60.2 billion teabags used in the UK each year means that huge amounts of polypropylene are regularly being dumped in landfills.
However, if you can’t go a day without a brew, there is no need to fear. “There is no reason why enjoying a cuppa should mean adding to our plastic waste problem,” Louise Edge, senior oceans campaigner at Greenpeace UK, told HuffPost UK. “Plastic-free alternatives already exist.”
Many UK brands now claim “plastic-free”, but some bags use PLA (plant-based plastic), which typically needs industrial composting and isn’t suitable for home compost bins.
If in doubt, choose loose-leaf with a metal infuser or brands with clearly PLA-free or home compostable bags.
One such alternative is the Teapigs Temple Tea Bags. In these teabags, the string is made from cornflour, and the bags are sealed with heat instead of plastic. This means their tea temples are both fully biodegradable and plastic-free.
Pukka Tea have also developed a new way to seal their tea bags: ingeniously stitching their bags shut with organic cotton string. The result is delicious tea bags which are fully compostable.
Alternatively, why not make it your resolution to try a loose-leaf tea with a reusable metal infuser? This method will really cut down your plastic waste and often works out cheaper than tea bags – it’s a win-win!
Coffee Pod Swaps
And we all know about coffee pods, right? Disposable coffee pods are a definite NO NO!
Estimates vary widely, but reports suggest that tens of billions of single-serve pods are used globally each year. If you own a pod machine, check your brand’s take-back or recycling scheme or switch to refillable pods.
You could even make the switch to a Fresh press, stovetop moka or a manual filter to cut your plastic waste even further.
Cling Film Alternatives
While many of us use cling film in an eco-friendly effort to preserve leftovers and reduce food waste, cling film and food wrap are some of the biggest kitchen culprits when it comes to single-use plastics. Thankfully, it is now possible to avoid this sticky situation with the many cling film alternatives available on the market.
We think reusable wraps made from natural beeswax are a super cool eco-alternative to food wrap. Instead of sticking together like cling film, these wraps are activated by heat from your hands. To use, simply place the wrap over the food you wish to cover and then mould it around with your hands. These wraps are not only a plastic-free alternative; they also contain tree resin and jojoba, both of which are antibacterial and natural preservatives. Once you have finished using them, simply wipe them down with washing-up liquid and warm water and leave to dry – and voila, ready to reuse again and again!
Alternatively, you can get creative with your kitchen crockery to save on the plastic. Got a bowl of leftovers? Why not cover the bowl with a plate instead of reaching for the cling film? For reheating the food later, simply pop a non-metallic plate on top to avoid food splatters. So simple, so thrifty, and plastic-free!
Ditch the Dish Brush
When thinking about reducing plastic use in our kitchens, soft plastics such as cling film and cellophane wrappers are usually the first things that spring to mind. However, there are many hard plastics that we use every day in our kitchens without even thinking about it.
One such product is the humble dish brush. Like our toothbrushes, we do reuse our dish brushes every day and replace them around once a month. These hard plastics can take up to 1000 years to decompose after we put them in landfill.
To keep your eco-consciousness as clean as your dishes, why not invest in some bamboo cleaning products? Items like the ProCook Bamboo Dish Brush cost around the same as their plastic counterparts but are made from 100% natural bamboo, the world’s fastest renewable resource.
Additionally, have a go at making your own cleaning products and store them in reusable spray pots. The Plastic Free July initiative has compiled a list of cleaning supplies, such as disinfectant and shower cleaner, that are super easy (and cheap!) to make yourself at home.
Recycled Kitchens
Thinking about buying a new kitchen and looking to make an ethical choice? Usually, when we buy a new kitchen, we dispose of our used kitchen in a skip, incurring a significant cost in the process, both financially and to our environment. Around 30% of the kitchens skipped in the UK can be regenerated and reused by eco-/cost-conscious buyers, and you’ll be delighted to hear that in selling your used kitchen, our Carbon Calculator predicts that it will also give you and your family a full year of living carbon neutral!
Quick checklist for a lower-plastic kitchen
- Take a reusable tote and produce bags with you at every shop.
- Carry a refillable water bottle or coffee cup; use the Refill app for top-ups.
- Choose loose-leaf tea or home-compostable bags.
- Prefer returnable glass milk and larger pack sizes in simpler materials.
- Replace cling film with wraps, lids or containers.
- Try solid or concentrated cleaners and refill stations where available.
- Buy a preloved or ex-display kitchen from Rehome and avoid the waste that comes from new packaging.
