PaperlessKitchen Blog

Spring Tablescape Ideas with Green Disposables

1. Daffodil Delight - Set fresh cut yellow daffodils in tall vases in the middle of the table. Choose crisp white table linens and set the table with Bamboo StudioMalibu Dinnerware. 

Finish with MyDrap Napkins in Lemon Yellow and you have one delightful table.

2. Birdie Beautiful - Place some wooden birdhouses in the middle of the table decorated with some spring greenery or left au natural. Use a shabby chic rose-printed table cloth along with our Bambu Veneerware dinnerware

and MyDrap Napkins in Sand or Ecru to complete the look.

 Sand  Ecru

3. Totally Tulip - When Easter flowers make their appearance on the market, buy some potted tulips. Cover the pots in upcycled spring colored wrapping paper or fabric scraps. Place on a gray tablecloth with Leafware dinnerware and MyDrap napkins in Fuchsia. 

4. Brilliant Buffet - Having a large party with a buffet setup? Cover the table with a white cloth and buy some turquoise chevron or polka dot fabric to use as a runner along the middle of the table. Hang Hip Hooray Spring Garlands on the front and put our Eco Products Divided Plates and other green disposables along with MyDrap napkins in Caribbean Blue.

Have any spring tablescape ideas of your own that feature green disposables? Share them in the "Comments" section!

Decorate the Green Way with Hip Hooray

Recently, we added Hip Hooray Green Garlands to our collection, and we're excited to offer them to our customers. These festive decorations come in a wide variety of colors for holidays and for parties.

No matter which color you opt for, you'll be getting a green decorating solution when you choose the ecoGarland. That's because the paper is Terraskin, a material made from minerals and nontoxic resins instead of wood pulp. The paper is certified by Cradle to Cradle because of its sustainability, and no water is used in its manufacturing.

Hip Hooray ecoGarlands are perfect for use outdoors and indoors, and they are durable enough to be reused multiple times. Easy to store, the garlands are made with low impact inks and strung with genuine hemp cords.

Check out our Hip Hooray garlands today, and let us know which is your favorite in the Comments section.

Send Home the Holiday Leftovers the Green Way

We've recently added Wean Green products to our inventory here at Paperless Kitchen, and the timing couldn't be more perfect. These containers are the eco friendly way to pack leftovers from those special holiday dinners to save in the fridge or send home with friends and family.

Wean Green containers are made out of tempered glass and have securely fastening nontoxic plastic lids. Unlike other similar food containers that you'll find on the market, these colorful and durable options have been rigorously tested to ensure that the tabs don't break off with frequent use. If a tab can go through 3 million openings and closings in the lab, it's sure to hold up in your home.

We have Wean Green containers in a wide variety of sizes, so head over to the brand page and stock up for the holidays! 

                                       WEAN GREEN WEAN TUBS GARDEN PACK 

Green Your Holiday Table with Preserve and Bambu

You've just realized you have more guests for that special holiday dinner than you have matching dishes or silverware! What do you do? Instead of purchasing items that may or may not be eco-friendly, try these green dinnerware products that will decrease the size of your eco footprint on Turkey Day and throughout the rest of the year. The products are made by Bambu, a brand that produces dinnerware out of organically grown, fair trade bamboo, and Preserve, a company that offers dinnerware made out of recycled BPA and melamine-free plastic.

1. Preserve Everyday Plates 9.5" - Available in four stylish colors, these plates are perfectly sized for a big Thanksgiving meal.

2. Bambu Bamboo Knife, Spoon and Fork Set - Buy a set for every guest at the dinner, and you'll have silverware taken care of! There is even a smaller sized set for kids.

3. Preserve Everyday Cups - These durable cups are perfect tumblers for water and come in hues to match the Preserve plates.

4. Preserve Everyday Bowls - Also sold in shades to coordinate the other Preserve dinnerware items, these bowls hold 16 ounces of hot or cold foods.

5. Preserve Reusable Cutlery - This plastic silverware is so sturdy and easy to use that it will change the way you think about plastic forks, knives and spoons!

Which Preserve color do you like the best? Check out our product pages and let us know!

Four Steps to Recycling and Composting at Your Thanksgiving Dinner

Want to have as little waste as possible when Thanksgiving Dinner comes to a close? Follow these simple steps and you'll minimize waste in a festive way!

1. Collect two old metal trashcans. You may have some around your house or you can usually find them at junk shops or online.

2. Spray paint the trash cans using a low VOC, nontoxic spray paint. Pick a festive Thanksgiving color like brown, gold or orange.

3. On the lids, use a nontoxic paint to write "Recyclables" on one and "Food and Paper" on the other. 

4. Line the cans with a compostable, biodegradable garbage bag. You can head over to our sister store LeafyClean to check out our Bio Bags collection for product ideas. 

5. Place them in the kitchen or another easy-to-access area.

Let guests know about your collection bins and then watch as they use them! At the end of the party, you'll have one bag ready for your composting pile or collection station and one for the recycling bins!

                               Tall Kitchen Bio Bags, 13 Gallons - 12  Bags per Box

4 Steps to a Chemical Free Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving, you want to fill yourself up with turkey and all of the trimmings, but you don't want to overload yourself on chemicals. Unfortunately, many of the things we traditionally eat on Thanksgiving can be tainted with chemicals of all types. By following these simple tips, you can decrease your family's exposure to various toxins this Thanksgiving.

1. Be choosy about your bird. - While in the U.S., it's illegal for turkey to contain hormones, you can still find some unwanted ingredients in your turkey, particularly ones that are labeled as 'self-basting.' To get the best bird, choose one purchased fresh from a farm or one labeled with organic certification from the USDA.

2. Ditch the cans. The lining in tin cans often contains BPA, a known toxin. By choosing fresh fruits and veggies in place of canned fare, you'll also spare yourself a lot of sodium.

3. Go organic for your mash. - Make sure your mashed potatoes are organic! Potatoes are one of the veggies that the Environmental Working Group has identified as having high rates of pesticide contaminants. The celery for your stuffing and the zucchini, spinach and collard greens for your Thanksgiving sides are on there, too, so plan accordingly!

4. Pick the right plastic. When you're cooking, serving or eating dinner, only use plastic dinnerware, utensils and tools that are free of BPA.

5. Eat it cleaner. Before you use any fruits and vegetables in your Thanksgiving recipes, give them a wipe down with Eat Cleaner Wipes to remove residues from chemicals as well as germs and dirt.

Preparing Thanksgiving Dinner the Green Way

In a recent post, we talked about some products that could help you set a greener table for Thanksgiving. For this edition of our blog, we'll show you some great eco friendly tools to use when you're preparing the meal. These products are made by Bambu and Toockies, which both manufacture their products out of sustainable and organic materials.

1. Bambu Stainless Steel Cheese Plane - Use this handy tool for slicing cheese for hors d'oeuvres or for adding to recipes.

2. Bambu Serrated Utility Knife/Spreader - This handy knife is perfect for a wide variety of tasks as well as for spreading butter.

3. Bambu Bamboo Classic Mixing Spoon - You're sure to use a wooden spoon at some point while you're cooking for Thanksgiving. When it's this spoon that you'll be stirring with bamboo instead of hardwood.

4. Toockies Square Joy Pot Holder - Protect your hands when you're taking the turkey out to baste with these handmade pot holders.

5. Toockies Flower Trivet - Use this organic jute trivet to protect the counter top or the table.

6. Bambu Bamboo Tapered Spatula - You're sure to need this handy spatula when you're cleaning out the bowl after making your pumpkin pie.

7. Bambu Bamboo Slotted Spoons - Check to see if the veggies are finished in the water without making a mess with the help of these slotted spoons.

8. Bambu Medium Undercut Bamboo Cutting Board - Whatever you're chopping up this Thanksgiving, make sure it's on this bamboo cutting board to protect the planet.

Which of these products are you most looking forward to adding to your collection? Tell us in the "Comments."

A Closer Look at Leaf & Fiber

Last time, we gave you some great ideas for serving Thanksgiving with green disposables to cut down on cleaning time. In that post, we gave a quick introduction to Leaf & Fiber, our newest line of products. This line of disposable dinnerware is made out of leaf waste collected from Areca palm trees. The leaves are washed, dried and then baked into a variety of dinnerware options. No chemicals are added to the leaf fibers, making the dinnerware both nontoxic and biodegradable.

 The Leaf & Fiber collection includes:

 - Traditional Round Plates in 10, 9 and 6-inch sizes

- Modern Square Plates in 10, 8 and 6-inch sizes

- Round and Square Bowls 

- Trays in Oval, Rectangular and Quadral Shapes

Our Leaf & Fiber dinnerware comes in multiple quantities to suit your needs. Head on over to the Leaf & Fiber brand page an check all of the options.

Wash Less Dishes on Thanksgiving with These Chic Disposables

If you're hosting friends and family for Thanksgiving dinner this year, you'll be spending plenty of time in the kitchen. The last thing you want to do is spend hours washing dishes after the meal or once your guests go home. This year, you can save yourself some dishwashing without compromising the beauty of your tablescape with by using green disposables in place of your ordinary china. These are 10 of our favorites for the Thanksgiving table from the Leafware and Leaf & Fiber collection of palm leaf dinnerware and the MyDrap cloth paper napkin collection.

1. Leafware 3" Single Bite Plates - These cute round plates are great side plates for sauces and relishes.

2. MyDrap Bundle in Ecru - Using a flashy tablecloth for your holiday dinner? Pair it with these neutral Ecru cloth disposable napkins to complement the look without detracting from it.

3. Leaf & Fiber 10" Round Plates - If you like round plates for your dinnerware, these 10-inch ones will give guests plenty of space to heap on the delicious dishes.   

4. MyDrap Gray Folded Napkin Bundle  - Smoky and sleek, cool and classy, gray makes a real statement in the dining room and coordinates with many different table linens and place settings.

5. Leafware 9" Square Plates - With these square plates, you can give your table a modern look that is ultra stylish.

6. MyDrap Folded Cotton Napkin Bundle in Lipstick Red - Bringing a sense of fashionable flair to Thanksgiving Dinner, these lipstick red disposables are lovely choices for the table.

7. Leaf & Fiber Cafe Oval Duo - Serving a relish tray or two small side dishes? Place them side by side on this stylish server.

8. Leafware 3" Ramekins - The square ramekins make charming bread plates for rolls and croissants.

   9. Leaf & Fiber 10" by 6" Quadral Plates - The unique shape of this server makes all types of foods look like they're being served at a 5-star restaurant.

10. Leaf & Fiber 12" by 10" Serving Tray - This big server is great for presenting sliced turkey and other Thanksgiving favorites.

Which chic green disposables will you be using this Thanksgiving? Let us know in the "Comments" section.

Five Great Cookbooks for Your Thanksgiving Dinner

If you're in charge of Thanksgiving Dinner this year, you can serve a delicious meal that is still healthy for you and your guests. If you're in need of some ideas for recipes and serving ideas for the holidays, check out these five cookbooks, which are available from Amazon.com and other online retailers.

1. The Vegan Table: 200 Unforgettable Recipes for Entertaining Every Guest at Every Occasion by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau - Even if you're not vegan, you're going to love the amazing recipes in this 304-page cookbook. It even comes in a Kindle version, so you can save some paper.

2. Organic, Shaken and Stirred: Hip Highballs, Modern Martinis, and Other Totally Green Cocktails by Paul Abercrombie - Creative mixologist Paul Abercrombie has put together this 176-page recipe book of unique, organic cocktails that are always delightful when you're entertaining.

3. Earth to Table: Seasonal Recipes from an Organic Farm by Jeff Crump - This wonderful 336-page cookbook will be helping you bring delicious treats to the table all year-round, and the fall ones are especially appropriate for a Thanksgiving dinner.

4. The World's Top Organic Wines Paperback by Jacques Tremblay, Marie-Ange Gagnon and Frédéric Tremblay - Looking for the perfect organic wine to serve with your Thanksgiving feast? This 72-page book will help you find the perfect one.

5. Gluten-Free Recipes for the Conscious Cook: A Seasonal, Vegetarian Cookbook by Leslie Cerier, (forward by) Kathie Swift MS RD - Have a gluten-free guest coming for the holiday? Check out the fall recipes in this 232-page cookbook, and you'll also have fare to suit your vegetarian guests. This title is also available as a Kindle book.

Got a favorite organic or vegetarian cookbook for the holidays? Tell us about it in the "Comments" section.