We see the term “eco-friendly” tagged alongside pretty much everything nowadays, but what does it really mean? To me it describes things related to helping the environment in some way – whether it’s a grand gesture or a simple change in habits, anything that can help the environment in some way can make you eco-friendly.
When we talk about eco-friendly things to do in the kitchen the possibilities are endless, and as the kitchen is supposedly the most used room in the modern home I decided to spend some time researching what people think are the best ideas to make them more eco-friendly – these are the results of what I found:
Reduce, Re-Use, and Recycle!
The first, and most obvious, way to help the environment is to recycle as much as you can in while cooking in the kitchen. Most things that are recyclable pass through the kitchen at some point, so the easiest place to start is set up a couple of recycling bins in the kitchen. Use some nice looking baskets or simple plastic bins, to separate your glass, plastic newspapers and aluminium.
There are typically colour-coded bins for recycling and composting so that various products to be split, making it even easier to empty the bins from the kitchen into the appropriate coloured wheelie bin. In my research I read about a lot of families with young children who make it a task for each family member gets allocated a bin colour and they look after taking it out and recycling which is a great idea!
Compost bins!
Breakfast, lunch and dinner is all made in the kitchen, and general creation of food involves some sort of throw away food product – things like vegetable peel, leftover food, bits of food that we would maybe wouldn’t eat but they are still classed as food product. All of these items can be used as compost for your garden. Basically if you store these food products in a pile, or compost bin in the corner of your garden in about 10-12months it will turn to great fertilizer to mix into soil for your plants and flowers – and best of all its free!
Food Preparation
Food storage and preparation gives many opportunities to help better the environment. When buying your fruit and veg from shops buy them loose instead of shrink wrapped to save on having to dispose of the plastic at home. Buy food fresh instead of ready meals – less packaging and nothing uses as much energy in a kitchen than a microwave! As mentioned earlier, use old baskets to add character to your kitchen for recycling bins, but you can also reuse boxes for storage in your cupboards – things like herbs, rice, or other packets of food.
Make the most use of natural light
When possible try and position worktops and sinks in front of windows so when you are chopping and creating you can see what you are doing without the need for extra light. Sky lights or glass roofing areas are great ways to add natural light to a kitchen – try and position them over areas that you use the most.
Obviously it’s not always possible to remodel a kitchen easily with windows and sky lights, so if you are in a position where you have to use a light make sure it’s an energy saving bulb as it more convenient (less changes) and as it last longer, saves more money over running a traditional bulb.
Other light related tips include always turning the light off when you leave the room, or having multiple lighting switches for a variety of lighting areas meaning you only light up the area you need and not always the whole room.
Replace white goods with A ratings
Washing machines, dishwashers, fridges and freezers are all energy hungry devices we all have in our kitchens, but did you know that when you buy them they all have economy ratings attached to them? If it’s a little bit more to buy the A rated white goods then it should save you money over the years to come on the amount of energy it uses to be powered.
Obviously it’s not always easy to just go and replace them all in one go to try and be eco-friendly, but chances are you will be replacing one of them over the next few years so always try and have a look for the most energy efficient one in your budget as appose to how it looks!
As a Design+Build General Contractor, I offer my clients a one-stop shopping approach to all of their home remodeling projects. I work with my clients from initial conception of a project through its completion. Every aspect of the job is managed by me and my professional crew. You will be included in every step of the design process until the final drawings are completed. No detail is left to chance. General Contractor Specializing in Kitchen & Bathroom Design and Remodeling Throughout the Los Angeles area.
Written By:
Offer Steuer
President
OTM Designs & Remodeling, Inc.
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