Swapping single-use for circularity: Full Circle Home
By Anne Whiting & Katharine Reed
Before you buy any kitchen tools for your favorite DIY-foodie this holiday season, we’d like to direct your e-commerce clicks to one of our partners: Full Circle Home. Skip the single-use plastic food wrap and disposable sponges—Full Circle Home is a sustainable go-to for environmentally-conscious products, from countertop composters and reusable storage bags to dish brushes, brooms, and beyond.
By offering conscious home care products that are beautifully designed, functionally innovative, and responsibly produced—using materials like bamboo, cellulose, natural stone, glass, organic cotton, peva (a chlorine-free, food-safe alternative to PVC) and even recycled materials—Full Circle Home (FCH) is dedicated to helping customers curate and enjoy a beautiful, more eco-friendly home.
As a business, FCH aims to have all of their operations performed sustainably. One way they do this is by being a plastic neutral company. How? For every ounce of plastic the company uses, they work with Plastic Bank® to recover and recycle the same amount of plastic that would otherwise enter our oceans. Their aim is to eventually offer 100% plastic-free packaging for all products.
Even if you’re not shopping for kitchen supplies this holiday season, odds are that someone you know will be doing a lot of cooking or shopping! Unfortunately, these holiday pastimes can be super wasteful. Our team at Sanitation Foundation is embracing the challenge to lessen our waste footprint this year. Inspired by the circularity of Full Circle Home, we felt now might be a good time to brainstorm ways to swap out single-use products while enjoying home over the holidays.
So, here are a few simple ways to incorporate reuse into your holiday celebrations:
Hosting family and friends for a holiday meal? Consider replacing single-use napkins with reusable, cloth alternatives that can be thrown in the wash with your laundry. (Oh, and, need we mention: avoid disposable plates and cutlery, too. Washing dishes with your favorite loved ones can be a bonding activity!)
Cookie baking marathon? Try swapping out parchment paper and aluminum foil with reusable, silicone baking sheets. And see if you can reuse as much packaging as possible—luckily, we saved last year’s cookie tins!
Brew and steep your favorite warm and cozy beverages in a low waste manner. Try out a reusable coffee filter, or a reusable mesh infuser for loose leaf tea! On which note, if the option is available, consider purchasing loose-leaf tea or coffee in bulk to further cut down on unnecessary packaging—and don’t forget to bring a reusable travel mug when you leave the house!
Got leftovers? Encourage family and friends to bring their own Tupperware to the parties, so you can skip plastic bags while also avoiding food waste! (But, of course, if plastic wrap is necessary, FCH offers a compostable version you might want to invest in now.)
Speaking of food waste, this compost collector is pretty cool and makes a very thoughtful gift for your aspiring eco-activist friends. In your card, be sure to include a list of NYC Compost drop-off sites. (Obviously, we’re hinting at it being on our own wishlist.) Take it further and sign up your household for Curbside Composting with DSNY! Call 311 or visit https://dsny.force.com/curbsidecomposting/s/.
Wrap your gifts in old newspaper (choose their favorite section, from arts to sports!) or other recycled packaging. Everyone will feel better about wasting less where possible!
These are just some little steps that help lessen our footprint. Even Full Circle Home admits that they are not perfect, and that sustainability is an ongoing journey that requires a continuous search for smarter solutions. In the meantime, for more single-use swaps, check out the Full Circle Blog! (And for readers of this blog, take 20% off your first sustainable FCH order by using code WASTE20 at fullcirclehome.com.)
Wishing you a happy and healthy start to a holistic holiday season.