Designing a Waste Free Kitchen
It's not only about the location of the rubbish bin in the kitchen anymore it's designing our kitchen to accommodate for a streamline recycling routine.
Finding room for;
Recycle cardboard / glass / plastics / batteries / bread bag clips / bottle lids / corks…
Food scraps
Spare Jars for products for plastic free shopping.
Bulk buys (without the kitchen looking like a doomsday prepper OR COVID-19 hoarder)
So why would we accommodate for those?
The long of it; To help future generation's living on this earth without drowning in centuries of rubbish.
The short of it; By accommodating for it we cut down on our thinking time which makes our every day more streamlined and efficient.
Let's face it that is why we often don't recycle as well as we can. It takes time to think it through, but just as we separate our knives from the forks we will be able to make this next generation of recycling become second nature. Why not integrate this into our new home builds or kitchen renovations from the start?
Within the Design
So you’re about to build your new home. With that comes the design of your new kitchen. Everyone talks about where the big platter can fit, where the fridge works best and just put the bin over there or I'll find room when it comes to it. Let's not do that anymore.
Let's think about the process of meal preparation in the kitchen. Firstly, you take out a packet of meat/tofu it’s plastic-wrapped of course, then a bunch of vegetables, these are also nicely packaged most likely in plastic. Once that meal preparation has begun and the packages are discarded where do they go?
It's easy to wipe everything into one generic location. So let's take on our streamline plan and process where these items should go when we get to that generic location.
We open that bin drawer, usually there is one bin if you’re lucky there might be two. Why don't we design more bins there? Our cutlery drawer has a compartment for everything why not our bin drawer. Hafele and even Ikea have some great systems available that allow our discard area to be compartmentalised too. This will mean you can allocate a third bin for your soft plastics and a fourth for light bulbs, batteries whatever is convenient or in abundance in your home, add more compartments if you require. Okay so the bench is cleared of the food packaging that took only a few seconds to allocate, now the food scraps, so we turn to the fridge.
When purchasing a fridge allow for one that has adjustable shelving that gives you enough room to fit a food scraps container especially if your garden can fit a compost bin or worm farm. Create that space too if you have a council that picks up your food scraps and composts them elsewhere. Don't have a garden or a savvy council? Find a friend who has chickens or a community garden that will be happy to take your scraps. Maybe your more adventurous and love a good gadget, so recently you have purchased an on the bench compost bin... In they go. No matter set up you have, there is a need for the little scraps-bin to be somewhere.
Once you have your packaging disposal sorted and your food scraps away why don't we look into this further? The design of your kitchen is happening now so let’s plan for the future. Let’s talk pantry design and being plastic-free.
First Steps to Plastic Free
Plastic-free is not only about shopping at that new local market with your boomerang bag for a few veggies but taking that collection of glass jars that make your pantry look like a Pinterest board and instead of filling it from Coles or Woolworth’s plastic packaging, take it to a small local shop and fill it there. There have always been shops that supply products as a “pay by weight” system, more and more are popping up in and around the suburbs. So grab your collection of jars and visit one. When you come home and place those jars together on a well-spaced, well-designed pantry wall you will see it's all just about resetting some of the old ways of thinking.
Allow at the bottom of those glass jar shelves enough space to stack and store bulk purchases. More and more products are purchased online these days and if you’re paying for shipping, you may as well purchase 2 more or 10 more. Allocate space for this in your kitchen pantry design. Nobody wants to lean over an amazon box to reach your beautifully labelled tricolour quinoa jar.
As a final contemplation for you and as we are talking about purchasing items in bulk right now, think about when you entertain in your new house or have a runny nose. Those bulk storage areas are great when you’re stocking up supplies for a party or a 2 week self isolation period. Allocate that spare corner cupboard or high over head area that may just end up storing grandmas sherry glasses. While you’re at it also find room for an extra few sets of party friendly reusable cutlery, plates and glasses so we can slowly remove our beliefs in a throw away society.
How Can Yael K & Associates Help?
At Yael K & Associates we have been designing award-winning kitchens for over 25 years in new builds and renovations, this is a core part of our building and interior design practice. If you would like some more ideas contact us today. Let us see how we can upgrade your kitchen design to a streamline waste-free kitchen. Beginners and seasoned recyclers welcome.