The three main categories that determine a product’s greenness are heath, energy and sustainability. Health takes into account the product’s freshness, sustainability considers the product life cycle whereas energy includes the usage of water and energy consumption. Healthy food and environment is important for healthy body and healthy mind. Make your kitchen green by using below mentioned useful tips:
1. Appliances for green kitchen
Green kitchen means a kitchen with eco friendly appliances. Every day market is flooded with new appliances that use less energy, less water and make less noise as well. These types of kitchens help reduce the wastage of natural resources. Best is to start using appliances which are ‘Energy Star’, and there are hoard of it in the market, like refrigerators, stove, dishwashers, microwaves, mixer grinders, garbage disposals, etc. Size of the appliance is utmost important. If you are not in need of bigger appliance still you buy one then you have to shed more on electricity bills. You can save water by installing a water flow regulator. With its help you can adjust the flow of water accordingly.
2. The design of the kitchen – windows and lighting fixtures
If possible, design your kitchen with numerous energy efficient windows so that you can utilize natural light at its fullest. Bonus of having windows is that you can open them whenever you want for ventilation so as to vent out cooking odors. This way you can save electricity, a next step towards ‘Green Kitchen’. Else you can use a light bulb which consumes petite energy and will also last for long. These bulbs are big investments for your home. Try not to use radiant bulbs as these are the most energy-intensive.
3. Eco-friendly dishwashers
Yet another interesting idea is to use a biodegradable/eco friendly dishware. These are made of fallen palm tree leaves. It’s a use and throw product which won’t mess your kitchen. These are safe to be used in microwaves/ovens and also in freezers. You can also make use of eco-friendly dishwasher detergents/soaps. There are number of methods available online for making a quick and easy soap at home. These detergents are safe and clean the dishes perfectly with shine.
4. Own energy efficient cooking process
Today, there are number of eco-friendly equipments available in the market. With the help of latest technology microwaves, you may turn the microwave off early and the dish will finish cooking in the residual heat. You can make use of microwave at the fullest, by cooking more than one dish at a time, this would save energy. While cooking on burners or electric stove, it’s important that you use a properly sized utensil, also make sure that the utensils have proper lids. A covered utensil consumes less gas.
5. Raise a kitchen garden
Nothing could be as green as growing your own garden, a ‘Kitchen Garden’. Growing your own fruits, vegetable and herbs would be fun. Also it’s the most hygienic and perfect way to have natural produce, whenever you need.
6. Avoid using unhygienic products and don’t waste
Try not to use plastic bags as they are harmful. For buying fresh and unwrapped products, carry your own bags like jute or cloth bags. Secondly, avoid situations when the food is wasted more than it’s being cooked. Thirdly, try and reuse what you can, like the food packing bags can be washes and reused.
7. Eco-friendly flooring for green kitchen
There are numerous types of flooring. In fact, you have range of collection now-a-days that are eco-friendly. Some of the top options include: bamboo, polished concrete, timber flooring, recycled timber or bamboo.
These options will help you save the environment. So, make your kitchen “Go Green”.
