Easy Swaps for a Healthier Kitchen

As a nurse practitioner, DIY guru, and cleaner living expert, I’m always on the look out for ways to make our kitchen healthier for me and my family. While they are plenty of big ticket replacements to make, that’s simply not in my family’s budget. So, today I’m going to focus on the easy swaps you can make for a healthier kitchen.

Here are my 3 favorite swaps to update your kitchen to make it a cleaner one!

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Swap Foam Standing Mat for Cork Standing Mat

I love a good standing mat in the kitchen to make chopping veggies or doing the dishes less of a pain.

But, when you look into what those standing mats are made of, it can be a little concerning. A lot of the most popular mades are made of some type of foam, and foam is often made of polyurethane. Polyurethane is a chemical used in a lot of different products, like standing mats, mattresses, and in vent sealant in your home. But, it’s also been linked to lots of health concerns, especially respiratory issues, skin and eye irritation.

While you can’t really control what’s used to seal your ventilation system, you can choose a standing mat for your kitchen that’s made of a safer ingredient: cork.

This standing mat from Fulton is made primarily of cork, a sustainable, plant-derived material that’s better for the environment and for our health.

I’ve also found from my own experience with the mat that the Fulton cork standing mat provides more firm support than most foam mats, without the worry about the health concerns the foam can bring.

And, if you’re interested in grabbing one of your own, you can use my code GIRLSDIY15 for 15% off your own Fulton cork standing mat!

Swap Chemical Cleaning Wipes for Microfiber Cleaning Cloths

I used to buy a canister of cleaning wipes at least monthly at the grocery store, to wipe down our counters, our microwave, and our fridge. They seemed super convenient and easy to use.

But, as I started to learn more about the chemicals in the cleaning agents in those wipes, I started looking for a healthier way to clean our kitchen.

That’s when I found microfiber cleaning cloths. You can get the same cleaning power from microfiber cleaning cloths, damp with water, as you can with chemical-laden cleaning wipes. Instead of using chemicals to clean and kill germs, you use the power of scrubbing to clean and kill germs instead, without the health concerns.

I prefer to use Norwex cloths–they last at last 2 years each and are embedded with silver to help kill bacteria. Send me a message and I’ll send you a link to my favorite Norwex kitchen product!

Swap Plastic Containers for Glass Food Storage

Plastic food storage containers, and the health concerns they bring, have been talked about a lot over the last several years.

Plastic food containers often contain bisphenols (you’ve probably mostly heard of BPA). Bisphenols are used to make plastics and are used in countless products. And, they’re really good at making plastics.

But, the health effects that bisphenols are linked to are concerning. Bisphenols are endocrine-disrupting chemicals, meaning they interfere with how our hormone system works (you can read more about them here). Since our hormones are our communicators in our bodies, messing with our endocrine system can lead to a lot of health issues, like diabetes, obesity, reproductive issues, and even cancers.

There are so many sources of bisphenols that it’s impossible to remove them all from your life.

But, an easy way to reduce your exposure is by storing your food in glass food storage containers. Glass is a safe substance that doesn’t leach any chemicals, is widely available, and relatively cheap.

I swapped our family’s food storage containers to these from Amazon 5 years ago, and they’re fantastic. Everyone’s biggest concern with glass is breaking them–we’ve only broken 2 in 5 years, so I’d say that isn’t too bad.

Did I Miss One of Your Favorite Healthier Kitchen Swaps? Tell Me!

Are you making swaps towards a healthier kitchen and I missed one of your favorite swaps? Comment below or send me a message, so I can check it out!

Don’t Miss My Other Blog: Building a Healing Home

Did you know I have a whole site focused on cleaner living? Building a Healing Home is born out of my healthcare background and my own health struggles. It’s focused on finding cleaner living swaps to minimize your everyday harmful chemical exposures and improving your health. Come check it out!