How to de-clutter your kitchen and make it minimalist?

Nobody likes to throw money away. But that's what we do when we keep things that we don't use!

Choosing utensils that last and that we often reuse makes sense. But we often let ourselves be guided by our impulses and desires.  We fill our cupboards and drawers with a multitude of completely useless accessories.

Organising a zero-waste kitchen requires a bit of method to make it sustainable in the long run. Let simplification be your guide and become your second nature.

Transforming a normal kitchen into a zero-waste kitchen is not complicated and above all this minimalist reorganisation has only benefits.  Once your family is used to it, practising zero waste will be very easy.

Before starting this simplification, prepare 3 fairly large boxes.  It all depends on the size of your kitchen and the amount of space it takes up.  Foldable and stackable bins are very useful for your "vacuum cleaning".  What is important here is that you separate the 3 sections well and that you are not limited by the space that these boxes take up, it is only temporary.

You will therefore need a "To donate" box, a "To recycle" box and a "To sell" box.

Open your cupboards, drawers, look at your walls, look under and on the shelves and for each object found, ask yourself:

• Does this object still work?
  

Avoid keeping appliances that no longer work! Either repair them or give them away. Keeping them around takes up space and limits the chances of them being repaired and reused. If your appliance is broken, take it to a recycling centre and put it in the "To Recycle" box. If you manage to repair it, put it in the "To Donate" or "To Sell" box.  Don't keep it, because you've done without it!

• Do I use it regularly?
  

How long has it been since you last used that item in the back of the cupboard? More than a month? Put it in your "To Donate" or "To Sell" boxes and if in a month you haven't needed it, leave it in the box.  Avoid thinking about it all the time and creating the opportunity to use it to get it back...

• Is it necessary to keep several units?
  

One piece of each kitchen utensil is more than enough! You can only dip one ladle in the soup, only put two hands in the oven at the same time, only use one brush for washing dishes or only cut on one board...  Now is the time to sort out the duplicate items in your drawers and cupboards. Put the duplicates in "To Donate" or "To Sell" boxes.

• Is this object a danger to my family?
  

The use of plastic, Teflon and aluminium is a health risk.  These materials are toxic for your family; keep stainless steel, wood, glass! Neither "To sell", nor "To give", take care of others and bring them to the recycling centre!

• Do I keep it out of guilt?
  

Don't keep an item just because it was given to you! Don't feel guilty about getting rid of a bulky or unused item.  You can always explain to the person asking where the item is that you are making life easier for yourself...  Put it in the "To donate" box, it will make someone else happy and avoid buying it!

• Do I keep it because everyone else has it?
  

Accumulating lots of gadgets is useless! Are you sure you need an egg slicer, a tomato knife, a salad spinner?  Couldn't a much simpler accessory do the job?  A dish towel is a great way to spin the salad and it's fun...  Put it in the "To donate" or "To sell" box, it will make someone else happy and avoid buying it!

• Is it useless and do I have to clean it regularly?
  

Review everything: what is hanging on the wall, stored above the cupboard, hanging on the hook, on the windowsill. All those decorative objects that have accumulated and have no use. Yet they have to be maintained, lifted, moved to dust.  Are they worth your time?  Hop hop hop, into the "To sell" or "To donate" box... Others will avoid buying such a new object!

• Could I save space and use it for something else?
  

To make the most of the space in your small kitchen, start by sorting your catch-all drawer! Simply put everything in its place, the small screwdriver in the tools, the coins in the wallet, the keys on your key ring, the pens and pencils in a pencil box, etc.  You've got a drawer back!

• Can it be reused?
  

If this object cannot be reused, can it be used for something else? Can its purpose be changed? Can this skinned glass jar be used for a plant? Can this dish towel with a hole in it be used as a shoe rag? How satisfying it is to give things a USEFUL second life!

Once this simplification has been achieved, it is necessary to consolidate and maintain it over time.  This is very easy because you are satisfied with the minimalism of your kitchen and all that remains is to adopt the right gestures.

• Refuse

Refuse what we don't need. A key aspect of waste reduction is to reduce consumption.  It is quite simple, what we do not consume should never be thrown away.

Consuming is not only buying, it is also accepting the sample you are presented with, accepting business cards, taking a leaflet, finding your mailbox full of ads! The smallest thing accepted for free is waste if it is of no use to you and you don't ask yourself whether it is necessary.

Another route of entry for waste is the well-meaning people around you. Wrapped flowers, over-wrapped gifts, and all the other little presents you give to please others can add to your cupboards and your rubbish bin.  You will need to communicate on this subject to those around you. Don't hesitate to suggest zero-waste ideas; a bottle of wine, an experience-gift, offer a glass.

Put a clear indication on your letterbox that you do not want to receive leaflets, newspapers and other flyers. You will notice a great reduction in the amount of paper and cardboard you have to send for recycling.

Your smartphone has a useful camera for taking pictures of business cards and advertising information. Printed advertising contributes to deforestation and uses many energy resources in its manufacture, transport and disposal.

• Composting

In a zero waste kitchen, the production of non-recyclable or non-compostable waste must be reduced as much as possible.

Ask your neighbours for information, there may be a collective composting system in your neighbourhood.  This is an opportunity to contribute to the creation of an effective compost to use for your indoor or balcony plantations.

Adopting a composting system is important. It is quite simple to set up when you have a garden.  All you need is a bucket adapted to your waste production and to go back and forth to the compost in the garden each time it is full.  It doesn't smell at all because it's only made of biodegradable material.  The conventional bin smells bad because the materials are mixed together and the non-biodegradable material prevents decomposition.  Avoid animal materials, they smell bad when they decompose.  You can always have a container in the freezer to hold this waste until it is time for collection.

For flats, there are composters in two parts.  A bucket with a hole in it to collect the waste and another around it to collect the juice produced.  This juice can be collected as fertilizer through a tap.  Mixed with the water you use to water your plants, it is very nutritious.

• Recycling

Find out about your local collection and recycling centre.  Some materials are difficult to recycle and require special treatment.  Make it easy on yourself and use the space in your kitchen for different collection bins. Cork, plastic caps, metals, batteries, old fabrics, packaging that have resisted your anti-waste vigilance. It is a great satisfaction to be organised and the improvement of the zero waste system is made easier.

It is also possible to valorise certain "waste".  There are clothes collections in some shops, cork collections for some associations and metals can be a goldmine for some.

Talk about your zero-waste journey as much as possible and communicate your solutions, you will receive a ton of useful information for you in return.

• Binning

You no longer need a bin. Your old bin is used to collect compostable waste or to collect glass bottles for recycling or you have given it away.  Your waste has been reduced considerably.

Your motivation to take action must come from every piece of waste that doesn't fit into the composting, reuse, efficient recycling box. No plastic object fits into these boxes, we know that very little of it is recycled and that the production of new packaging increases every year

You look around your kitchen and quickly notice that a whole range of practices still constitute recurrent waste: paper towels, paper napkins, cling film, plastic water bottles, tea bags, coffee filters.

The good news is that each of these wastes has a sustainable alternative: washable paper towels and napkins, washable dish covers or charlottes, carafes and flasks, tea spoons or tea balls and for coffee you have a choice of piston or Italian coffee makers or washable filters.

De-cluttering your kitchen depends on the size of your family, your cooking skills and your habits.  The idea is to keep enough utensils for your family and to have extra for guests.  However, if your dinner table can only seat 10 people, it is not necessary to keep 24 plates of all sizes.

Our tips:

A first tip is to count the number of possible guests around the table and add 2 for the service for plates, cutlery and glasses of different sizes.  When you want to invite more people, choose the "walking dinner", i.e. keep your guests standing and serve by passing between the guests and/or by placing plates in which the guests pick at their choice. This is very user-friendly and easy to set up in a zero waste way, with washable napkins of course.

Your hob cannot accommodate an infinite number of pots and pans, three pans of different sizes, three saucepans, one pot and one kettle are enough to prepare a meal for a family of four.

One of each is sufficient, one ladle, one serving spoon, one spatula, one whisk, three tongs and two wooden spoons.  Two small kitchen knives, a carving knife, a saw knife, a pair of scissors and a chopping board.

Keep no more than one sieve, one colander, one steamer, one funnel, one measuring cup, one scale, one pepper mill and one salt mill, two trivets, two potholders and one bottle opener.

Limit the number of appliances, a blender/diver can do you a lot of good but choose it without the multiple accessories that will only clutter your cupboards.

If you buy your vegetables and fruit organically, you won't need a peeler because you don't have to peel them and you greatly reduce the size of your compost.

A bottle works well as a rolling pin. The salad spinner is replaced by a dish towel that you close and hold tightly before rotating it in the air...

Limit the number of cake pans, they pile up and are often inaccessible.  An oven dish is very useful.

One classic dinner service will suffice and you will save space.

On your marks! Ready to go? Get started... You'll love simplifying your life!

Sylvie, 1825 days of weaning from waste

Thank you Béa