Life in Plastic, Not So Fantastic: 12 Products to Help You Chop Plastic Out of Your Kitchen
- Words by Peppermint
What month is it again? While mentally we might still be stuck in 2019, Father Time keeps ticking away and all hands are pointing to Plastic Free July. 2022 sees the initiative in its twelfth year as millions of people around the globe join the pledge to reduce their plastic waste.
We know you’re already shunning plastic straws and remembering your reusables, but this Plastic Free July, we thought we’d take a journey through the home, eliminating plastic in each room as we go. Of course, the most sustainable products are the ones you already have on hand, but there’s no better time to share some love to the brands out there fighting the war on waste, all year round. Next in the series… the kitchen.
Whether you’re a bona fide home chef or need a recipe to make cereal, there’s a reason the kitchen is often called the heart of the home. It’s where we gather with our loved ones to cook generational recipes, pop champagne on special occasions and slow dance to records on cold winter nights. Sadly though when it comes to food preparation, there’s often a side order of plastic. Here are a few brands we love who are cleaning up your act.
READ MORE – Life In Plastic, Not So Fantastic: 13 Products to Help You Flush Plastic from Your Bathroom
THE SWAG
Keep your fruit and veggies fresh for up to two weeks with The Swag, made of 100% fair trade cotton. Waste less food, spend less money and use less plastic? That really waltzes our Matildas!
SOYOUNG
Pack lunch that packs a punch. SoYoung lunch boxes are cool as cooler bags for you or the young ones, with stylish raw linen fabric exteriors and PVC-free, phthalate-free aluminium insides.
ZILCH
This buildable bundle from Zilch takes the guesswork out of plastic-free living. From essentials such as soap and dishcloths to extras like coconut-fibre scourers, your kitchen cleaning swag is sorted in three easy steps!
EARTHS TRIBE
Wipe down waste with these Certified Organic cotton “unpaper towels” – designed to replace disposable kitchen roll. Versatile, machine washable and double ply for extra strength – that’s how we roll.
ZIPTOP
Get your food storage in shape with these 100% PVC-free platinum silicone containers, designed to replace ziplock bags. Useful for leftovers, lunches, snacks and more – they stand up, stay open and zip securely shut.
RETURNR
Looking for lunch on the run minus the plastic waste? The innovative Returnr lets you take away your food or coffee in borrowed, stainless steel containers that are then returned for a refundable deposit.
GREAT WRAP
When clingy is a good thing… This world-first compostable cling wrap is made from corn starch and plant-based resins, designed to break down within 180 days in your home compost or green-waste bin.
READ MORE – Business (Not) as Usual: This Couple Has Plastic Waste All Wrapped Up
AMBER’S FOOD WRAPS
Mind your beeswax… organic reusable beeswax food wraps that is. Aboriginal-owned and made, Amber’s Food Wraps are 100% cotton with designs by First Nations artists from the Northern Territory.
POTTERY FOR THE PLANET
Look forward to coffee or lunch on-the-go in the stunning ceramics, handmade on the Sunshine Coast, by Pottery for the Planet. One-of-a-kind and sealed with a silicone lid, your plastic-free meal will be the envy of the lunchroom.
READ MORE – All Kilns Glazing: Meet the Local Pottery Brand Fighting for the Planet
GHOST WARES
Hey there, hot stuff! Make your mornings just a little bit easier (and cooler) thanks to this gorgeous stone coffee pot, hand-made by Melbourne-based ceramics studio Ghost Wares.
PODSTAR
Just can’t quit your coffee pod habit? Happily, for you, there’s a sustainable option. Podstar’s reusable, stainless steel capsules fit a variety of machines, including the Clooney classic, Nespresso.
AUSSIE BREAD BAGS
Aimed at combating the one million plastic bread bags that enter Australian landfill every day, these NSW-made reusable cotton bread bags also help avoid the pesky mould that plastic can encourage!
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“My piece of advice for makers and designers? Run your own race… make sure your key decisions stay anchored in your brand’s core beliefs.”
- Bec Bligh
Quick show of hands: who’s opened a water bottle expecting a refreshing sip… and instead been greeted by the unmistakable whiff of uh-oh?
Because for something that follows us everywhere (desk, car, hikes, yoga…), the humble drink bottle is strangely prone to becoming a science experiment. Hard-to-clean corners and gaskets. Mystery smells. Bec Bligh and her husband Tim know it well. A six-month sailing trip along the Queensland coast left them with a lifetime of memories and one stubborn annoyance: mouldy water bottles they couldn’t properly clean.
So they did something about it.
Enter @EverVessel. Thoughtfully designed borosilicate glass and stainless steel bottles that keep things beautifully simple: durable materials, wide openings, easy-to-clean parts and none of the techy gimmicks that tend to age badly. Turns out simplicity, done well, is pretty powerful stuff. (Their many design awards agree!)
And lately they’ve added a little extra delight: the Artist Series, where creatives like Paola Castro, Ben Miners and Martin Thompson transform these everyday companions into tiny travelling artworks. There are more colabs in the works, too: hydration, but make it joyful! 🎨💧
We chatted with Bec about the sailing trip that started it all, the philosophy behind Ever Vessel, and why the most sustainable product is often just the one you keep using.
Tap the link in our bio to read the full conversation. 🚰
#EverVessel #ReusableWaterBottle
Pull up a chair… there’s room at this table!
For the first time, Feast for Freedom is bringing people together for a spectacular long-table dinner as part of the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival.
A Longer Table is exactly what it sounds like: one beautiful shared table inside the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (@Asrc1), piled with generous dishes inspired by this year’s hero cooks, Noha and Nige.
From 6 to 9pm on Wednesday, 25 March, this is what you can expect:
🍽 A three-course shared feast
🍷 Matched drinks
🎶 Live entertainment
✨ A room full of good humans
Your ticket doesn’t just buy you a delicious dinner. It supports the ASRC’s vital work and helps create a fairer future for people seeking asylum.
Seats are limited, and long tables have a way of filling up quickly – head to @MelbFoodAndWine’s website to book now: feastforfreedom.org.au/mfwf
#FeastForFreedom #MelbourneFoodAndWineFestival #LongTableDinner #FoodForChange
Sew versatile! 🪡
Another great make from Lisa from @SunnySewsEveryday:
My #PeppermintWaratahWrapDress is finished and I’m so proud of it. It has been designed not to flap open and flash your pants in the wind, so I feel confident it will be a great wheelchair or standing dress in English weather.
#PeppermintPatterns #WrapDress #WrapDressPattern
Frame your face with the Peppermint Bucket Hat!
Stay safe and stylish in the sun with your very own self-sewn and self-drafted wide-brimmed bucket hat. This beginner-friendly sew is perfect for a sunny day. Get out your pencils – this pattern is created using equations and maths!
This DIY project was featured in Issue 53 and now you can access it for the lovely low price of only $5.
Sun-safe chic is always in style. ☀️
Find it via the link in our bio!
Photos: @KelleySheenan
#PeppermintPatterns #PeppermintBucketHat #BucketHat #BucketHatPattern #DIY
✨ INSTANT CLASSIC ✨
The Peppermint Myrtle Shift Dress is a beginner-friendly make with a few special details based on the ever-stylish shift shape – the perfect dress you need in your wardrobe right now!
Myrtle cuts above the knee with options to customise the length. Don’t think she’s reserved for hot weather either: try a heavier-weight fabric to turn your Myrtle into a pinafore-style garment for layering.
For our fabrics we chose two from our lovely sewing partner @Karmme_Apparel – the bold Rottnest Stripes in a lightweight, soft-drape cotton, and the quality linen in the handpainted Mexico Collection.
Get making the Myrtle – the only question is, can you stop at just one?
Link in bio 🪡
Fabric: @Karmme_Apparel
Sewist: @Laura_The_Maker
Photos: @KelleySheenan
Models: @SerahSews and @Pins_And_Tonic
Location: @ShareTheDignityAustralia
#PeppermintMyrtleShiftDress #PeppermintPatterns
It’s time to Feast!
Some recipes travel a long way before they land on your table to delight your taste buds. This year’s Feast for Freedom invites us to gather our friends, cook something delectable and raise funds for the incredible work of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (@Asrc1) while we’re at it.
The 2026 Feast features recipes shared by two remarkable cooks: Noha, who brought the flavours of Palestine with her when she arrived in Australia, and Nige, a Sri-Lankan Tamil cook whose journey with food began in the most unexpected of places.
You can host your own Feast up until 30 April – simply register online and get planning! Host a dinner, organise a workplace lunch, or gather your community… However you do it, the idea is simple: cook, connect and celebrate the cultures and stories that shape Australia.
Want to find out more? Head to the link in bio to meet Noha and Nige, learn more about their stories, and discover a delicious recipe to try.
#FeastForFreedom #PeppermintMagazine #FoodForGood #ASRC
