HOW TO CREATE A PLASTIC FREE PANTRY:
Give your pantry an overhaul
Start by working with what you already have. Take everything out from your pantry and transfer anything that’s in a packet into a glass jar or container. It makes it easier to see what you’ve got on hand, and it’s likely your food will keep it’s quality for longer too.
Shop Bulk, shop Local
Head to your local bulk foods store to stock up on supplies. In Australia we’re lucky these stores are becoming increasingly popular – hopefully this new way of shopping is also popular wherever you’re reading this from too! We went to our local The Source Bulk foods to give our pantry an overhaul and stocked up on some staples to fill our shelves and inspire us to get creative in the kitchen. You can take brown paper bags with you and reuse them each time you shop.
Pantry Staples – we know everyone’s pantry staples will be so different based on what you like to eat. For us, these are a few of the bulk foods we’d recommend having on hand.
Shopping List
Oats
Quinoa
Rice
Wholemeal Flour
Cacoa
Almonds
Tahini
Honey
Salt
Tumeric
Cinnamon
Chilli
Oregano
Olive Oil
Label it
Once home, sort your groceries into jars and use a permanent marker or poster pen to label them. We got our jars from The Source, you could also collect and recycle jars or most Bulk Foods stores sell various sizes of them. I don’t know about you, but this labelling is essential for me so I don’t mix up my maca with my mesquite, my cayenne with my paprika and I know which jar to grab at a glance when I’m cooking!
Set up your rack
In an ideal world, you’ll have beautiful hardwood shelves in your kitchen to display your jars on (a girl can dream). If you’re renting like me, creating a freestanding rack is the next best thing, and means you still get to fulfil all your Pinterest dreams (I’ve just discovered an organisation orgasm is a thing, and I think I’m having one).
My man helped me whip up this super simple jar rack. We simply cut 6 pieces of wood, screwed them together and stained the wood in a Teak Brown finish to give it a rustic look. Here’s the plan we worked off to make our rack. You could also make shelves by stacking up wooden crates, or using cinder blocks with planks of wood if you don’t have access to a drill.
Once you’ve got your rack in place, stock it with your jars and arrange them in categories like grains, cereals, nuts, herbs & spices
I’ve been so inspired to get more creative in the kitchen since setting up my new pantry, and am trying so many new whole food recipes – would love to hear some of your favourites in the comments below. If you do this DIY we’d love for you to share it with us! #walkalittlelighter #spellDIY
Enjoy your new plastic free pantry, knowing that by making this shift to using less packaging every time you shop you’re helping to create a more sustainable future.
xx
