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Over the past few years, I have been obsessed with thrifting; and so has the rest of the world. A fun new way to shop on a budget turned into evenings of researching what I want to bring home with me after my next thrift trip. Ballet flats? Putting it on the list. Vintage biker shorts? So cute for spring.
The art of thrifting not only taught me to be more sustainable with my purchases, but also taught me to start caring about the quality of the items I bring home. Learning that the quality of a Shein crop-top is much different than a vintage linen blouse completely changed my wardrobe, as well as how I shopped. Going from IKEA furniture to pre-loved oak made a world of difference in terms of longevity. My oak dresser is still standing strong, and it will never go out of style.
After years of second-hand shopping, I finally convinced myself I mastered the art of sustainability; until I opened my pantry. Despite knowing the difference in breathability between cotton and linen, I couldn’t decipher half of the ingredients in the snacks I consumed daily. High fructose corn syrup? Red 40 dye? All packaged in harmful plastics that ended up directly in the trash after consumption? Yikes.
I had yet to conquer the art of sustainable eating. So much was going to waste in my household, and the ingredients didn’t match the quality of the item’s I was surrounding myself in. I realized that I forgot to look for sustainability in the most important place: inward.
So, how do we address that not addressing sustainability in the kitchen is going out of style? We treat a trip to the grocery store like a trip to the thrift. Cauliflower can be great as a side dish, but also as a basis of a meal when turned into cauliflower rice. Potato skins can be cooked into homemade chips without any surprise ingredients. There are even companies taking proactive measures to turn food waste into healthy, guilt free snacks without harmful packaging or additives.
There is so much that can be upcycled in the kitchen. Treat it like a treasure hunt; that potato isn’t just a potato, it has the potential to be multiple things that will suitably fuel you! Get excited about how sustainability can change your kitchen, like it did mine.
Keywords: Thrifting; Sustainability; Upcycling; Healthy; Recycle; Second-hand; Pantry; Kitchen