Our kitchens can be a big burden on the environment, from the type of food cooked most often, to water usage and the waste from different products. There's no getting around it, we all need to use our kitchen so I wanted to show you a few simple ways to make it more eco-friendly!

1, Reusable Coffee Filters or Loose Leaf Tea Holders

Using a cloth or stainless steel coffee filter can help cut down on waste from your morning cup of coffee. I use these cloth filters with my Chemex and then just rinse them out when it's done. To clean you can just boil them in hot water. I do this about once a month.

If you're a tea drinker, using a stainless steel steeper for loose leaf tea is less wasteful than tea bags. The loose leaf tea can then be composted after use.

2. Reusable Paper Towels and Wipes

Paper towels are very convenient, but they account for a lot of waste in the kitchen. One report states that Americans use 13 billion pounds of paper towels annually. Investing in reusable cloths are a much better option that can be used for napkins, paper towels and cleaning wipes.

3. Make Your Own Cleaners

Making your own cleaner is not only better for the environment, but also your health. Besides buying plastic bottles over and over that end up in landfills, most store-bought cleaners are full of chemicals that stay in the environment for a while and we inhale them when we use them in our homes. Here's two recipes for non-toxic kitchen cleaners that you can easily make in a reusable bottle.

4. Biodegradable Trash Bags

The trash bags we use for garbage can take decades to decompose in landfills. Biodegradable trash bags are made from plant materials so they can be composted. They're better for the environment as they will break down much faster than plastic bags.