7 Easy Ways to Make Your Kitchen More Eco-Friendly
We spend a lot of time in our kitchens: preparing food, cooking food, and sometimes even eating food, depending on the layout of our houses. If you’re concerned about your home’s impact on the environment, you’ll be relieved to know that there are plenty of ways you can make your kitchen a little eco-friendlier. Try the following ideas to get started:
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Consider your energy sources
Using efficient energy sources will help your kitchen to be more environmentally friendly and can also bring down your electricity bill. To start, you can use energy-saving lightbulbs in your kitchen’s light sources, and install an induction range if you’re remodeling your kitchen.
Reduce your food packaging
It’s far too easy to choose food that comes prepared in layers of plastic packaging, but you’ll be doing the earth a favor by selecting items that are instead wrapped in cardboard or compostable materials. Depending on your area, you may be able to shop at bulk food stores, to which you can bring your own containers and fill them with dry foods like pasta, popcorn seeds, and rice. You’ll likely save money, too – and you just might meet like-minded people who also care for the environment.
Shop at local stores
Reduce your carbon footprint by buying your food from local stores, who in turn stock their shelves with local products. Most food products are labeled with their country or city of origin but don’t be afraid to ask if you can’t figure out where they’re from. Being aware of where your food comes from is an essential step towards being eco-friendly in your everyday life. Once you know where your food comes from, you can make educated decisions on which local farmers you want to support.
Use refillable products
Rather than buying a new product every time you run out of kitchen items like dishwashing liquid, why not refill your existing containers and lessen your impact on the earth? Fillaree offers subscriptions, so refilling your cleaning spray is a breeze. You can also try products like compostable sponges; rather than sending your cleaning products to landfill, you’ll rest easy knowing you’re not causing the earth harm when it comes time to throw them away.
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Minimise your water waste
It’s far too easy to waste water while cooking or cleaning, but being aware of how much you’re using is the first step. For example, only use your dishwasher when it’s full. You might also like to use motion sensor taps, which can make saving water easy - as soon as the taps sense that your hands are no longer in the sink, they’ll switch themselves off.
Grow your own herbs
Rather than buying fresh herbs at the supermarket or using prepackaged ones, try growing your own. Many common herbs can easily be grown in small pots, requiring little more than occasional watering. Nothing beats the feeling of using herbs from your own little garden when you’re cooking a meal, and they’ll help to brighten up your kitchen, too.
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Plan ahead
Nearly everybody has discarded forgotten bowls of leftovers or has thrown out extra lettuce or other vegetables that they didn’t get around to using in a meal. To avoid situations such as these, plan your meals for the week ahead of time whenever you can. Remember to factor in any social plans or work lunches, and prepare any work lunches or snack beforehand so you don’t end up with leftover food that you can’t use.
An eco-friendly kitchen is a perfectly attainable goal. Even merely changing a few of your habits will help you to head in the right direction. Do your part for the earth and make your kitchen a more sustainable place.
Cloe is passionate about looking for ways to lead a more environmentally-responsible life. She believes there is no better place to start living ‘green’ than in your own home. Over the years, she has worked with various sites and blogs, writing articles for business and technology sites such as Trustpower. You can read more of Cloe’s work on Tumblr.