Vegetable Broth - you probably already have everything that you need to make your own vegetable broth and it's the perfect way to use vegetables that you might have forgotten about in your fridge. I keep a designated "broth bag" in my freezer and fill it with vegetable scraps and those veggies that weren't used in their prime. The last batch of broth I made was flavored with onion scraps & peels, garlic peels, the tops of peppers, some limp carrots, wilted cilantro, and soft mushrooms. I dumped these contents from my broth bag into a large sauce pot and filled it with water. Let the broth simmer for as long as you can and then strain out the veggies. I try to let my broth simmer for at least an hour but I've also let it sit for up to 4 hours on low heat. I try to make about 8 cups of broth at a time and store it in a mason jar in the fridge for up to a week.
Cooking Spray - I'm very anti one-trick kitchen items and all I see when I look at cooking spray is a one trick plastic pony. I use a pastry brush and a small bowl with vegetable or olive oil. It's just as convenient and everything serves many additional purposes.
Rosemary - rosemary grows everywhere in Seattle so if you live here, stop buying it. I used to ask my neighbors if they'd mind if I took some and after asking so many times I learned that literally no one cares if you cut from a large rosemary bush. There are three giant bushes within 2 blocks of my apartment and I see giant bushes everywhere I go. Keep your eyes peeled and ask your neighbors if you can't find one. Just be sure to cut high and wash it when you get home.
Aluminum Foil & Plastic Wrap - aluminum foil is so wasteful and there are other ways to covering your food when it's in the oven, just use another baking dish! You might notice some of my stacking skills in some of my posts and those techniques have been working for me for years. Even if you do reuse your aluminum multiple times, it's still going to become waste at some point. Just don't buy it. You don't need it. Move on. There's a lot of room for improvement when it comes to my relationship with plastic wrap but lately I've discovered that a produce bag serves the same purpose. Usually I bring my own produce bags to the store or don't bag my veggies but with Covid I've noticed a lot of people bagging their veggies and signs suggesting that people shouldn't bring their own bags. So lately I've had a mild increase of plastic bags in my life that I feel pressured to reuse. Most of them are used for taking out kitty litter but I keep two with my baking tools for when I need to cover dough or a dish that needs to marinate. It works just as well as plastic wrap and it's easier to clean and reuse.
Thanks for reading! I'd love to know what items you find to be wasteful and what you're using instead