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7 sustainable products everyone should have in their kitchen

7 sustainable products everyone should have in their kitchen
Photo by Naomi Hébert on Unsplash
gray steel 3-door refrigerator near modular kitchen

There's more to keeping a green kitchen than recycling your yogurt containers or opting to store your leftovers in glass Tupperware. Little things, like your trash bags, can add up, which is why it's important to try to reduce your footprint as much as possible. Fortunately, these sustainable kitchen products make it easy keep a green home!

Reusable Silicone Baking Cups



Reusable silicone cupcake liners save you money on having to buy disposable paper cupcake wrappers every time you bake. These sustainable cupcake liners are just as festive as anything you would throw away. Because the liners are made with a sturdier silicone, they can be used for other purposes, like arts and crafts projects.

Amazon Basics, $7.99 for a pack of 12; Amazon


Stainless Steel Reusable Drip Cone Coffee Filter


Now you can have filtered coffee without the guilt of wasting paper. This metal drip coffee filter is dishwasher safe, making for easy clean up. It's also travel-friendly, meaning you can have the same, sustainable coffee as you do at home when you're on the go!

Maranello Café, $17.99; Amazon

Reusable Grocery Bags



These sustainable grocery bags are so cute, you'll never forget them at home. Each bag replaces two to three conventional grocery bags. They're waterproof, machine washable, foldable, and reinforced to carry heavy loads – so basically they're everything you could ask for in a sustainable grocery bag.

ONME, $16.99 for 8; Amazon

Bamboo Reusable Paper Towels


Yes, you can reuse paper towels. These paper towels are made from bamboo, which means they're sturdy enough to be used up to 1700 times before they have to hit the trash. While these paper towels are more expensive than regular paper towels, you get more bang for your buck. One paper towel roll is the equivalent of 60 standard rolls, which is a lot of trees saved.

Enviro Safe Home, $19.99 for 2 rolls; Amazon

Kitchen Compost Bin


If you've always wanted to try composting, why not give it a shot with this cute compost bin? It's so stylish, it'll practically blend into your kitchen décor. The bin is equipped with charcoal filters, meaning the smells won't build up even when the waste does.

Utopia, $21.90; Amazon

Bamboo Dish Scrub Brush


These plastic-free scrub brushes are made from sturdy bamboo, which means that they're completely biodegradable once it comes time to throw them away. But it'll take them a while to get to the point where they're ready to scrap, because they're sturdy and built to last for a long time. Plus, they're designed to feel comfortable in your hand, meaning you can get clean dishes without hand cramps.

Earth's Own, $21.98; Amazon

Biodegradable Kitchen Trash Bags


Even if you do your best to minimize the amount of plastic trash you make, you still have to throw away your trash in plastic. Unless you get yourself some biodegradable trash bags, which are designed to sturdily hold your trash without doing additional damage to the planet.

ETSUS, $27.95 for 7; Amazon


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Planet

Easy (and free!) ways to save the ocean

The ocean is the heart of our planet. It needs our help to be healthy.

Ocean Wise

Volunteers at a local shoreline cleanup

True

The ocean covers over 71% of the Earth’s surface and serves as our planet’s heart. Ocean currents circulate vital heat, moisture, and nutrients around the globe to influence and regulate our climate, similar to the human circulatory system. Cool, right?

Our ocean systems provide us with everything from fresh oxygen to fresh food. We need it to survive and thrive—and when the ocean struggles to function healthfully, the whole world is affected.

Pollution, overfishing, and climate change are the three biggest challenges preventing the ocean from doing its job, and it needs our help now more than ever. Humans created the problem; now humans are responsible for solving it.

#BeOceanWise is a global rallying cry to do what you can for the ocean, because we need the ocean and the ocean needs us. If you’re wondering how—or if—you can make a difference, the answer is a resounding YES. There are a myriad of ways you can help, even if you don’t live near a body of water. For example, you can focus on reducing the amount of plastic you purchase for yourself or your family.

Another easy way to help clean up our oceans is to be aware of what’s known as the “dirty dozen.” Every year, scientists release an updated list of the most-found litter scattered along shorelines. The biggest culprit? Single-use beverage and food items such as foam cups, straws, bottle caps, and cigarette butts. If you can’t cut single-use plastic out of your life completely, we understand. Just make sure to correctly recycle plastic when you are finished using it. A staggering 3 million tons of plastic ends up in our oceans annually. Imagine the difference we could make if everyone recycled!

The 2022 "Dirty Dozen" ListOcean Wise

If you live near a shoreline, help clean it up! Organize or join an effort to take action and make a positive impact in your community alongside your friends, family, or colleagues. You can also tag @oceanwise on social if you spot a beach that needs some love. The location will be added to Ocean Wise’s system so you can submit data on the litter found during future Shoreline Cleanups. This data helps Ocean Wise work with businesses and governments to stop plastic pollution at its source. In Canada, Ocean Wise data helped inform a federal ban on unnecessary single-use plastics. Small but important actions like these greatly help reduce the litter that ends up in our ocean.

Ocean Wise, a conservation organization on a mission to restore and protect our oceans, is focused on empowering and educating everyone from individuals to governments on how to protect our waters. They are making conservation happen through five big initiatives: monitoring and protecting whales, fighting climate change and restoring biodiversity, innovating for a plastic-free ocean, protecting and restoring fish stocks, and finally, educating and empowering youth. The non-profit believes that in order to rebuild a resilient and vibrant ocean within the next ten years, everyone needs to take action.

Become an Ocean Wise ally and share your knowledge with others. The more people who know how badly the ocean needs our help, the better! Now is a great time to commit to being a part of something bigger and get our oceans healthy again.

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The hobby has caught the attention of law enforcement and government agencies because urban waterways are a popular place for criminals to drop weapons and stolen items after committing a crime. In 2019, a magnet fisherman in Michigan pulled up an antique World War I mortar grenade and the bomb squad had to be called out to investigate.


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