Looking for sustainable kitchen practices and you do not even where to begin? In this article, you'll find some eco-friendly home tips on how to start and have the green kitchen of your dreams! We'll be sharing with you today 5 ideas to build a green kitchen and to contribute to save the planet.
A sustainable kitchen would be something like a kitchen who helps the planet. Not a joke! It does... A sustainable kitchen may begin with eating healthier and greener, but that's not all. There are other elements to consider whenever we refer to a sustainable kitchen, elements that go far way beyond the act of having a healthy, green meal.
Among these other very important eco-friendly home tips, these go from finding an energy-efficient way of cooking and cleaning to buying cooking equipment that is made of more sustainable materials. Not to mention the importance of starting replacing those toxic chemicals we normally buy to clean our houses or make them smell good. You may be eating green but if none of these other things are done, a real sustainable kitchen can't be possible. But it can be! And it's not that hard at all!
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The best part is that choosing and buying in a more sustainable manner not only helps you and the planet, but it also helps your pocket! Let's check now some sustainable kitchen practices to get you started.
If you don't know, food waste is one of the greatest threats to our planet and for various reasons. In the first place, we produce A LOT of food waste. It is true that maybe the greatest responsibility lies on large companies and failing environmental policies, but there are things you can do about food waste and we encourage you to do it! Imagine if every one would do it... it's just a matter of spreading the word and keeping the practice as a habit.
There are two very simple actions you can take to get you started: do not overbuy food and make sure you preserve them adequately.
If you buy too much stuff and do not how to organize your meals properly (we've all been there, trust me) you may end up throwing away most of the fresh stuff you bought. It can be different, though, for example next time you head to the groceries, buy just what you need for a day or two. You'll be preventing food from becoming waste, buying fresh and saving money all at once.
When it comes to preserving food properly, try to put dry products like pasta, oatmeal, cereals, rice, muesli, etc in glass containers. If you leave them in the original packaging, they will go wrong sooner. Any type of sealed in air-tight container should work. Avoid buying plastic as you know, they are really bad for the planet and remember that preserving our food for longer so it doesn’t go to waste is really simple! What's more, your food will keep fresh and nutritious as if you just bought it.
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Maybe you saw this one coming, right? Well yes, buying organic is among the most recommended sustainable kitchen practices ever! It's really a good choice but it's true that it's not for every budget. So, whenever possible buy something fresh organic veggies or fruits. The truth behind this is that by buying organic you are supporting sustainable agriculture, which is supporting the planet. We live in an era in which we are more aware of the damages that monoculture and industrial farming causes to the soil and the suffering that is causes to animals.
This is something that we truly try to encourage because it's always nice to know that by buying local, your are supporting local. If you can't afford organic every time, you can start by saving a little and buy organic once a month and maybe in the future you start doing it more regularly. That's the way of doing it... a step at a time and keep on walking!
Unfortunately, the way of traditional cooking usually have very little to do with sustainable kitchen practices at all. That means that in order to go for a fully sustainable kitchen, we should keep an eye on this. But we got you, buddy! Please read these really simple adaptations that you can make. Here are some eco-friendly home tips for sustainable kitchen practices that you can follow:
You won't believe it but preheating your oven before baking your food is so old-fashioned! Most of ovens nowadays come to the necessary temperature very rapidly. Except that it's a more elaborate and delicate dish, 5 minutes or less should be enough preheating for cooking your baked potatoes or pizza, right?
Use your oven wisely. Cooking two meals at the same time is an option, for example. Have you considered a toaster oven or a microwave for reheating? The amount of energy that is saved by using microwaves instead of ovens can raise to up to 80%. And that's a lot of energy you can save. Your pocket and the planet would really appreciate it!
These easy eco-friendly home tips will help you, too! Let's see..
Something so simple as using a properly sized pot for each burner can make a real difference. The incorrect size can cause up to 40% in energy wasted, which is totally unnecessary. Actually, it doesn't require much from us more than paying attention to this from now on!
Close-fitting lids are very important too, and most of the times we don't even put them out of the drawer. Try to cover your pot next time you boil water, it will keep temperature where it should be and not wasted around your kitchen!
Another good pack of ideas for a sustainable kitchen are related to regular cleaning products.The amount of petrochemicals that regular cleaning products contain is really alarming. Unfortunately, most of the stuff we keep at home for cleaning fall into this category: dishwasher liquid, floor or surface cleaners, detergents, oven-cleaning products and practically every cleaning product in the house. Nothing to do with sustainable kitchen practices, right?
Fortunately, there are today more and more companies compromised with the preservation of our planet and you can find a lot of green, plant-based, biodegradable detergents, for example. In case you live in a place where these products are not very much seen or you just can't pay for them, remember the old DIY recipe for a sustainable and efficient kitchen cleaning: vinegar and baking soda are always your best allies! If you want to find more eco-friendly home tips, please read next.
Well now you may think that this is a pretty obvious one and perhaps you are already using them. Congrats to you! And thanks. But in case you are not familiar with this, why don't you take a look to these eco-friendly home tips?
if we talk about sustainable kitchen practices, this is a rule og thumb: plastic bags are not recommended ever! Why? because well... they are made of plastic, and just to mention one bad thing about plastic, it takes forever to decompose, which produces in the long term a tremendous amounts of non degradable waste.
So why don't giving a reusable grocery bag a chance? You'll love them. There are many different designs, materials -all green, for certain- and sizes, so go fetch yours! It grew into a habit for me every time that I go to the farmer's store or to the groceries, I bring my reusable bag. Besides, I don’t use the small bags that hold produce either. You don’t need them!
Just in case you are too attached to using plastic bags or you don't have your reusable bag yet, what you can do is to keep your plastic bags and re use them next time you go shopping instead of buying or asking for new plastic bags. Not hard, right? And it's an easy way to start with your own sustainable kitchen practices.
We are so much used unfortunately to paper towers that come in all sizes and sizes that we forget that we actually do not need them. And by not using them on a daily basis, we are contributing to reduce the amount of paper that is used, and thus reducing our carbon footprint!
Probably, you hate the idea of having to wash them regularly, but come on! this is nothing that a washing machine and a biodegradable liquid laundry detergent cannot solve! We strongly encourage you to avoid using paper towels or cleaning wipes and to shift to reusable kitchen towels. Reducing the amount of paper will contribute to reducing your carbon footprint, too.
Same goes with napkins, not that long ago our grandmas use to keep them at home and they were really beautiful. Now we know that apart from looking super great on your table, they also save the planet!
Just some final comments, remember that transition into new habits always take time and patience. And keeping your sustainable kitchen practices is no exception. You don't have to do all at once, you can just take smaller but firmer steps daily. It's also true that you wil need to invest some money in a couple of things, but let me tell you it's 100% super rewarding and worthwhile. So... what are you waiting for? Do no hesitate into putting into practice these ideas for a sustainable kitchen.
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