Pretty & plastic-free kitchen objects

Distracting myself from microplastic horror with a beautiful teapot.

Microplastics are back in the news this week horrifying us all. Truth be told, I feel like 2025’s emails have been a little reactionary to current events and discoveries. I’m not here to walk us off the ledge every time a new and concerning report comes out, but I do hope that this information helps you to be informed and armed with actionable solutions that feel good for you.

Whether I’m talking about improving your diet or reducing your exposure to plastic, it’s about making the good-for-you choice the desired choice, so you can be consistent and have the best health outcomes. If romanticizing a teapot makes you less likely to drink a teabag with microplastics in it, I’m all for that!

To me, healthy living is about both form and function. If you’re trying to make a change, you’re going to be tremendously more successful if you’re enjoying it and it’s easy to execute. This is the foundation of my nutrition practice. And nutrition is so much more than what we put in our mouth—it also encompasses how we move our bodies, our sleep, stress levels, toxin exposure, and more. In order to truly optimize these areas of our lives, we need to somehow find the joy in it.

My favorite book to recommend clients isn’t a nutrition book, it’s Atomic Habits (if you haven’t read it, please read—or listen—to it!). In the book, James Clear lays out 4 laws of behavior change that I believe are instrumental in making healthy, sustainable changes and getting results:

1. Make it obvious

2. Make it easy

3. Make it attractive

4. Make it satisfying

I think about this a lot. If you’re a client of mine, you’ve probably heard me say “make the healthy choice the obvious choice” 100 times. While it might seem a little mundane to do a post about beautiful plastic-free kitchen objects, I think it’s important for these exact reasons. We need to limit plastic in our lives as much as possible, for both our health and the planet’s, and your kitchen is a great place to start. So, let’s make it obvious, easy, attractive, and satisfying.

How will this improve your health? If you love the way those glass storage containers with the bamboo lids look, you might buy more single-ingredient foods in bulk and actually use them instead of having plastic bags of random things sitting unorganized in your cupboard; if you have a fancy water carbonator, maybe you’ll stop buying the cans with plastic lining; if you have this stunning cast iron pepper mill, maybe you’ll crack fresh pepper (free of plastic shards) over your meals while increasing your polyphenol intake…okay, you get the point.

PLASTIC-FREE KITCHEN OBJECTS
Here are some products to love and use again and again. I hope this helps you reduce your plastic exposure and create a kitchen environment you’re excited to cook, consume, and live in.

✖️Instead of to-go coffee cups lined in plastic
💡Make your coffee at home or bring a ceramic mug to the coffee shop.

✖️Instead of plastic cutting boards
💡Try a rubber or stainless steel cutting board.

✖️Instead of flavored sparkling waters in a can or plastic bottle
💡Use an at-home water carbonator. You can flavor it with fresh fruit and juices (I love this lime juice).

✖️Instead of tea bags that leach microplastics
💡Drink loose leaf tea from a beautiful teapot in a pretty cup.

✖️Instead of letting your food sit in plastic Tupperware
💡Use glass Tupperware.

✖️Instead of plastic water bottles or drinking tap water
💡Get a good water filter and a beautiful carafe to drink out of at home.

✖️Instead of cling wrap, aluminum foil, and parchment paper
💡Get reusable stretch wrap and baking mats.

✖️Instead of plastic spoons, spatulas, and other cooking tools
💡Use wooden, silicon, or stainless steel alternatives.

✖️Instead of plastic or disposable kids plates and utensils
💡Try reusable bamboo plates and utensils.

✖️Instead of spices packed in plastic jars
💡Buy organic spices in glass, good quality salt in a salt cellar, and perhaps this gorgeous cast iron pepper mill.

✖️Instead of toxic nonstick pans
💡Use a nontoxic nonstick pan that actually works, cast iron, or invest in good quality stainless steel pots and pans you’ll have forever.

✖️Instead of kitchen appliances coated in PFAs
💡Get nontoxic appliances, like this air fryer, slow cooker, and waffle maker.

✖️Instead of letting your dry goods sit in plastic packaging
💡Decant them into beautiful glass jars that will make it easier to actually use your dried goods.

✖️Instead of using plastic mixing bowls to cook and bake with
💡Try glass, ceramic, bamboo (I love these!), or stainless steel.

✖️Instead of dishwasher tablets coated in plastic
💡Use these ones that don’t have a plastic lining and come in a nice (and reusable) canister.

And lastly, on a positive note, there are innovations happening and I feel hopeful: check out this biodegradable plastic alternative.