SAE RELOCATION

Paperless Kitchen in 5 Steps

2017年7月24日
admin

On the last article we talk about how to be zerowaste in the moving industry. SAE Asia willing to do more for environmental protection, so here are the follows, how to be zerowaste at your new home, let’s start with the kitchen.

To make a paperless kitchen you have to follow these 5 steps.

1.  Set a timeline to become paperless

Once you decide that you will change a new part of your life, you have to set a timeline. Even for smaller things.
For example, if you still have paper in your kitchen, you can say that when those are done, this is it. No more papers! This is your timeline. Use that time to start planning and finding alternatives.
Start by using cloth napkins for dinner only, and use the paper napkins other times of the day when we needed a napkin.  
One tip could also be: Try putting the roll of toilet paper in a less convenient place so you’re not used to grab a paper towel for every little thing.  

2. Stock up! 

You want to make sure you have enough cloths that you aren’t doing laundry everyday.  Just throw the cloths in with the rest of the towels you’re washing anyway.
Having 20+ cloth napkins on hand should be ok. You can use the ones you have already, or make some from old fabric, or find ones that pick up here and there. Doesn’t matter if they don’t match.
You also want to have cloths for all the things you would normally use paper towels for: dish drying, hand drying, food drying, and wiping spills.

3.  Have all your cloths in a convenient place

It’s about having a system in place:
For example: cloth napkins could be in a basket near the dining table. 
Or, use two cookie jars and put them by the sink, within arm’s reach. In one are the cloths designated for drying food, and in the other are the cloths designated for wiping up spills.  Having these in a convenient place is key.  You don’t want this process to be less convenient than using paper products.
The two other types of cloths we have are for hand drying and dish drying.  Those are kept on separate sides in a drawer by the sink.  One hand drying cloth is kept on the dishwasher handle, used for drying clean hands, and is replaced each day.  The dish-drying towels are kept in the drawer until needed.

 

4.  Have a laundry bin nearby

The next part of this process if having a place to put the used cloths.  Just like throwing away paper products in the trash was easy, this needs to be easy, too. Keep a metal bin in the pantry?
Use the the space under your sink or on the edge of your counter?
It just needs to be close so that it’s easy to throw the used cloths in there. The key to success is have a convenient system in place! Clean the kitchen cloths about two times per week, and just throw them in with the other towels I’m already washing.

5.  Get your flatmates, husband, wife, kids, grandparents, and other cohabitants on board!

Whether it’s your spouse, your kids, your roommate, or all of the above, going paperless in your kitchen will be a much smoother process if you have everyone on the same page.  
Some people might be a bit sceptic, but in the end, if there’s a system in place to keep the convenience level the same as with paper products that’s when it transition is going smooth.  
Once you have a system in place, you’ll wonder why you ever thought it was necessary to waste so much paper on a daily basis.  Make the transition to a paperless kitchen and you’ll save money and not lose any convenience.

 

This article is co-edit by SAE Asia and zerowasteshanghai.com.

 

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