If you are thinking to make your kitchen more eco-friendly and more sustainable, you need not make major changes in it. Small efforts and making conservation a habit could be enough for it. But if looking for an appliance overhaul, you would need to spend a few bucks on it. Whatever may be your requirement, below we have listed some tips that could be useful for you-
1. Reduce Food waste
According to recent research, almost half of the US produce goes into waste. So this is the tip you must follow religiously.
How many times you put your leftover pasta in your fridge and forget about it? What about that lettuce or strawberries you put in your produce drawer and you are not sure how long ago you bought it? So to avoid this carelessness, you should have a system and develop some habits to make sure that your food doesn’t go waste.
Label your food and keep the food that is about to expire at a place where you can spot it easily.
Use pure glass containers as they keep the food fresh, tasty and nutritious for a prolonged time. You can also put them in air-tight storage bags.
Check for moldy items before it contaminates the whole container.
Recycle your food waste
Use the whole food
2. Invest in Energy-Efficient Appliances
If you are planning to cut out the energy usage in your kitchen, make sure that you are using energy-efficient appliances. This is a fairly easy task that could help in reducing your electricity bill. Look out for Energy-Star appliances that use less energy than conventional models. Upgrade your appliances to something more efficient for a sustainable kitchen.
3. Use Sustainable Building Materials
If you are thinking to rebuild your kitchen or upgrade it, you can go an eco-friendly way. Remodel your kitchen by using sustainable or even reclaimed materials. You can use some of the few ideas listed below-
Sustainably sourced countertops
Cabinets made of reclaimed wood
Use bamboo for your floor as a sustainable material
Use recycled glass tiles
Replace your Teflon cookware
Switch your bulbs to LEDs
4. Take care of the Trash
As discussed before, you should try to reduce the waste you produce in your kitchen. The next step is that you should check on how you throw away your trash. It should be in a way that is not harmful to the environment and doesn’t make your nearby areas affected. Here are some few ways to keep a check on it-
Try to use reusable or recycled products. Avoid using single-use paper plates and non-recyclable Keurig cups.
Make sure you buy the right quantity. Don’t buy in bulk that will easily perish before you could finish it.
Use Reusable Grocery Bags.
Try to practice indoor composting with the help of special indoor bins. Otherwise, throw the waste into an outdoor compost bin.
Use Reusable Dishtowels instead of paper towels.
Use Natural Cleaning Products
5. Watch your Water use
You should keep a check on how much water you are using in your kitchen. Generally, a large amount of water goes into washing the dishes alone i.e. about 8 to 27 gallons. See if the faucet of your sink drips or not. If it does, fix it or replace it as soon as possible as a faucet that drips once per second wastes over 5 gallons of water per day.
To save up money on bottled water, make sure you install a water filtration system in your kitchen.
