What I love most about creating an eco-friendly kitchen is how much more beautiful and fun it ends up being. I’d like to share my favorite tips with you, along with my favorite Etsy finds that can help you in your pursuit of green living.

Scrub your dishes with something durable and cute, like cpeezers’ I’m Dreaming of the Ocean Aqua Scrubbies.

Dishcloths are a staple of an eco-friendly kitchen. I love picking pretty ones, like these Cottage Cotton Dish Cloths by Zummi.

Replace your paper towels with reusable towels, like these Red Plaid Flannel Cloths by picnicbasketcrafts. I still keep a roll of paper towels in my kitchen for any super messy clean-ups, but my cloth towels are what I use on a daily basis.

There are so many gorgeous cloth napkins made by hand, such as juliepeach’s striped leaf block print cloth napkins. I like to have a few different types, instead of just sticking with one.

I keep my clean napkins in one bin, and my towels in another. Get creative, and have fun with your containers. I like this Antique Grain Sack Linen Cozy Bowl by countrylifenaturals.

I toss my used towels and cloths into a bowl while I’m working, and empty it later. There are many gorgeous bowls on Etsy to choose from, and looking through the pottery seconds is a great way to find a cute bowl for a good price. My pick is kimwestad’s SECOND Pebble Soup Bowl in Orange.

Keep your knives organized and out of the way with something eco-friendly like this Magnetic Red Knife Block by feelfeltfound, made with MDF and non-toxic paint.

Keep your dishes interesting by adding some vintage items to your collection. This Vintage Texas Ware Serving Set from BrightWallVintage is pretty and functional.

Find items which had a previous life and are ready to be used in a new way, like these tumblers made from recycled wine bottles by bottlebottoms.

Find durable coasters, like these Crochet Pear Coasters by MonikaDesign, which can be tossed in the washer.

I like to store my beans and rice in glass jars. I soak the labels off of jars that I buy my food in, but antique jars like No. 220 large green glass jar from OpenYourWindow would be a beautiful home for your dry goods.

This Large Blue Bicentennial Ball Jar With Lid from MaisysMarket would be perfect sitting next to it.

Stay in instead of eating out. Find a few favorite cookbooks, like Martha Goes Green, A Vegetarian Cookbook by Rosie Percival and Ruth Friedlander.

There are so many gorgeous handmade tea towels to add to your kitchen collection. Slidesideways’ So Good and Tasty Tea Towel is a good example.

Keep your kitchen compost in a jar or pail until you get a chance to add it to the heap, like this Vintage Ceramic Coffee Canister from yesterdayswarehouse.

Pick hot pads which can be eye-pleasing and utilitarian, like Catch a Folded Star by CountryAccentsbyNJB.

Don’t be afraid to choose one of a kind items or mismatch them. The Chaos Quilt Block by SuzanneMedrano
would go well with many different designs.

Work in some vegetarian or vegan meals weekly–eating lower on the food chain causes less waste. Pick up cookbooks with recipes you’d like to try out, such as Rabbit Food Cookbook by BethBee.

Keep an eye out for interesting and unusual finds, like Cork Trivet – Inverted Stripes by nothingasitseams.

Decorate your floor with colorful rugs made from reused materials, like this Eco Friendly Rug by elgatodicemeow.

Tags: eco-friendly, eco-friendly kitchen, ecofriendly, etsy, friday feature, handmade, kitchen
Categories: eco-friendly, friday feature, handmade

This entry was posted on Friday, November 20th, 2009 at 10:05 am and is filed under eco-friendly, friday feature, handmade. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.