Today, just buying new cookware can be daunting, with the huge amount of choice, materials and added features.
The most popular choices to start with are none-stick, cast iron, and stainless steel.
Non-stick cookware is really easy to use.
However, the non-stick coating’s production generates dangerous by-products, and overheating the pans can cause hazardous chemicals to leak into your kitchen.
Even if we ignore the potential health risks, the non-stick coating is easily scratched and only lasts three to five years on average.
Since non-stick cookware wears out quickly, they are the antithesis of sustainability as every time you replace your cookware, your kitchen’s carbon footprint grows.
Unfortunately, non-stick pans cannot easily be recycled due to the coating, according to Recyclebank.
Research by a company in New Zealand discovered that the issue of non-stick pans has become so bad that around 1.3 million are thrown away each year (just in New Zealand) and a staggering 66 million in the last 50 years!
The stainless steel in pans takes hundreds of years to break down and if it has a plastic handle, that takes even longer!
Your choice of pan is not something that you would normally think would impact your footprint, it really does.