- Hello, everybody.
My name is Gittemary,
and on this episode of LIVEKINDLY With Me,
I am going to take you guys
through my sustainable zero waste pantry
and what I need daily to create a zero waste kitchen.
All right, let's do this.
The zero waste pantry, along with the trash jar,
are definitely some of the most reposted aspects,
things, motives when it comes
to the sustainable movement on social media.
One of the things that I think
is still the most important
is to discuss how it is impossible to be zero waste
in a society that's not designed for zero waste.
If you see this and you're completely demotivated
or discouraged because you don't have the same options,
just know that that's also okay.
And while I may have some things available to me
that are less packaged or that are more sustainable,
you might have other options that are not available to me
to the same extent.
I think it's just super important to recognize
that not everyone has the same items
or services available to them.
So instead of focusing on this
perfection aspect of zero waste,
I would much rather like to talk about
the things that we can do that make a huge difference.
I really want to show you these 10 food items
that I love to use and that are sustainable
and that you can find often without packaging
or with less packaging.
Let's do this.
The first thing we're going to talk about is flour.
I get flour in paper and cardboard bags.
This is just an unprocessed paper bag
that can easily go back into paper recycling.
And that is something that I prioritize often
over buying in plastic,
over buying in nonrecyclables
because buying in recyclables is better
than buying in nonrecyclables.
Aha.
It might differ greatly what is recyclable to you
and what is not,
so I also recommend checking in
with your local recycling facility
about what they accept for recycling and what they don't,
but I haven't had the option of getting flour
without packaging at all, AKA from bulk.
So the next best option for me has been to find it
in packaging that I know I will be able to recycle.
And with paper, I will also be able to compost it.
Not zero waste but definitely more sustainable
than buying in plastic.
Then we have oats.
I am from Denmark, and the way we get oats
in our normal supermarkets resemble the way
I just showed you the flour.
They usually come in these very minimally processed
paper bags as well,
super easy to recycle.
So that's also an option if you can find that.
But for this purpose specifically,
I have actually been able to find it in bulk.
So I usually bring some bags with me to the bulk store,
and then I transfer what was in the bags
into my solid glass containers once I get home,
so I don't have to carry these around everywhere.
You can also bring big containers to bulk stores,
and then you simply just weigh them before
and after you fill them.
And then you sort of withdraw that amount
that is not accounting for glass, okay?
Oats are such an essential for me
because obviously you use it in baking.
I use it in porridge.
Porridge is one of my favorite breakfasts,
but I also make oat milk from it.
And then I use that oat milk
both in baking, on cereal, in smoothies, everywhere.
And it's a really, really good, sustainable,
and very low waste hack.
Then we have lentils.
Lentils is also something that I can find in bulk.
So that is why I go for it.
I have also been able to find it once in a while
in cardboard boxes in the supermarket.
Lentils I use because they're so, so good for you.
And I also like to add them to sauces
and to sort of dishes like chilies and bolognese.
They're really great if you want to add some sustenance
and you don't want to use meat.
So I use them in curry, again in pasta dishes,
all that kind of stuff.
Absolutely love them.
And I both have green and red lentils available.
So that's just peachy.
Another essential for me is definitely peanut butter.
Peanut butter already made, actually, is more available
to me in sustainable packaging than just peanuts (laughs).
For me, what has been the most sustainable has been
buying premade peanut butter in glass jars
and then reusing the glass jars here in my house.
It is 99.4% peanuts.
And in terms of some other more junk-foodie peanut butters
that I've seen, the percentage go as low as 50%,
and I'm like, what's the rest of the stuff then?
So this is really, really good.
It's just peanuts.
And then little bit of...
Salt (laughs).
Glass is also infinitely recyclable,
in contrast to stuff like plastic
that can only be recycled two to three times.
So using glass instead is definitely also
a really, really good option
if you do have that option.
And reusing them at home is just even better.
This is a big one,
bulk pasta, yo.
Pasta is one of my favorite things.
And I think I have it almost every day.
So the pasta that I use right now,
I get from my bulk shop,
and they're just completely normal wheat pastas.
The cool thing about most dried pasta is also
that they are usually vegan.
And again, I bring my own back to my bulk store,
and then I transfer them into this jar
once I get back home.
A lot of carbs here,
but also I'm not scared of carbs like at all.
Oh, this is heavy.
These are dried chickpeas.
Chickpeas is an absolute essential in my household for sure.
These specifically are from bulk,
but you can often also find them canned,
and recycling aluminum and generally metal
is also often much easier than recycling plastics.
So that is also an option.
My favorite things to make with chickpeas are falafel,
absolutely love it.
Hummus, absolutely love it.
And then you can use the chickpea water
and the starches that go into it to make vegan meringue.
It's such a versatile ingredient
that I don't know where I would be without chickpeas.
That's absolutely for certain.
It's just such a versatile thing.
And I think that's one of the main points
that I want to make with sustainable food,
is that find things that you can use
for many, many different purposes.
Have versatile ingredients that you can use
for so many different things.
Find ingredients where you can use all of it,
rather than wasting something,
because that's generally more sustainable
and also keeps your bin light.
So I try not only to look at my sustainable food
in terms of its packaging,
but also how I can use it and how little of it I can waste.
That's just as important.
The next one is olive oil.
First of all, keep olive oil in a dark container
because otherwise it can go really, really bad.
I get my olive oil either in glass bottles like this,
not in plastic,
but this one I've actually used many, many times.
It's an upcycled bottle
because right now I actually use a refill service,
so I have these bigger metal containers that I can refill
with olive oil and then transfer them into this bottle.
It's also organic, and it comes without plastic.
Absolutely love it.
Perfect.
Number eight is curry.
And before I'm going to talk about the actual curry,
I just wanted to sort of really quickly show you
that this is the first thing that has been labeled.
The reason why that is,
is because I live with my boyfriend,
and we both know all of our containers
in our pantry are see-through,
so we can usually see what's inside.
It has happened a couple of times
that I have mistaken baking powder for onion powder.
We use these tiny, small,
not completely zero waste, honestly,
small stickers, but I got a label maker secondhand,
and we sort of put them here.
And because we don't bring the jars anywhere,
but we transfer our goods from our reusable bags
into our jars,
we don't have to take these anywhere.
We don't really have to wash them that often.
For the longest time, I would buy,
in supermarkets,
I would buy these metal, tin spices
or glass bottled spices,
but they always came with like a plastic lid
or like they were wrapped in plastic.
Recently, our local bulk store started to add spices
in their selection of food.
And I am in heaven.
It's so much easier,
and you can buy exactly what you know you're going to need.
And I really, really appreciate that.
Here we have a little tiny glass of hemp seeds,
and they are packed with nutrients and proteins.
So they're really, really good way
to sort of make sure you get that extra level
of nutrients in the morning.
Otherwise, my mornings can be very
I'm just going to have bananas
or apples or whatever I'm able to find.
So being able to make smoothies and add something
like hemp seeds to it is definitely a plus.
And these ones are also from bulk,
but I've also seen them in small metal containers
that are easily recyclable.
And lastly, we have nutritional yeast.
Nutritional yeast is this amazing thing.
It has tons of umami flavor.
It also has tons of nutrients.
It's super, super cool.
It usually comes in kind of big containers,
and it comes often in solid plastic containers,
which are more easily recyclable than plastic bags.
But I am also able to find it in bulk,
which I am super, super stoked about.
I love this product to bits.
I use it basically every day.
And that was 10 things from my zero waste pantry
that are completely essential to my kitchen.
Thank you so much for watching.
This was Gittemary from LIVEKINDLY.
Don't remember to subscribe to this channel
and turn on the notifications bill.
That would make my day.
And live kindly today and all of our days.
Are there any zero waste tips
or hacks that you want to implement into your life?
Leave a comment down below and let us know
if there are any other zero waste videos
that you would like to watch.
I would love to see you guys next time.
Bye.