Tueday Tips 20 Tips To Go Green In The Kitchen

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Easy tips to get more eco-friendly in the kitchen

Shop Locally - Shop at your local farmers market or farm stands. You get fresher food, support your community, and help reduce fuel waste and emissions from long distance shipping
Clean Smarter - Turn off water while scrubbing dishes and only run a full dishwasher or laundry load. Stock your pantry with natural and chemical free cleaners. Or use the old school, yet effective method with using baking soda, lemon juice, and white vinegar.
Y.O.B – Bring your own bag. Start carrying your own bags with you to reduce unnecessary plastic and paper bag use. Grab Reusable Veggie Bags to shop and store your fresh produce in – keep your veggies lasting longer.
Number 9! – Keep an eye out for the numbered stickers on fruits and veggies. If they start with #9, that means your produce is organic meaning it’s pesticide free.
Recycle Recycle Recycle! – Get a separate place to put recyclable items. Make sure you rinse them out first. Look at the bottom of the plastics to see what can and can't be recycled as well.
Nix the Plastic Bottles – Start purchasing reusable water bottles to take on the go with you. They make them with recycled plastic, stainless steel, and glass. Look into getting a water filter to filter out all the additives to tap water so your water will always be fresh and tasting great.
Reduce Waste – Look for groceries with the least amount of packaging, or recyclable packaging. Switch to napkins or cloth that have the “recycled” label on them, or purchase Reusable Kitchen Cloths, or Reusable Kitchen Wipes to help reduce paper towel waste altogether. These can be reused and rewashed multiple times and absorb more than paper towels do.
Start Composting! – Grab an indoor compost bin and reducing food scraps. Toss in your outdoor compost pile to provide natural nutrients to your garden or your green waste organics bin so it can be collected on garbage day. The odor-preventing filter and compostable liner bags makes composting a breeze. You’re helping reduce the amount of garbage you put out as well as providing nutrients for your garden.
Get Grilln’ – Outdoor grills take less energy than the stove and keep heat out of the house reducing costs on you air conditioner.
Get Chillin’ – Find an empty space in your refrigerator or freezer and stuff with crumpled newspaper or full water bottles (try to avoid the plastic ones) – this improves cooling and saves electricity and money.
Find Creative Uses For Leftovers – Don’t let your leftovers go to waste! There’s tons and tons of recipes you can make with leftover items. Roasting a whole chicken for Sunday? Save what’s left by making chicken salad for a weekday lunch, or using the carcass and leftover meat to make chicken noodle soup for a weekday dinner. Plan ahead on meals and prevent yourself from letting leftovers and meats go to waste.
Get Houseplants That Clean the Air – Some plants actually clean the air naturally. Houseplants purify the air and remove pollutants by absorbing gases through their leaves and roots.
Learn How To Properly Store You Groceries – Being aware on how to properly store you groceries, and how long they keep, can be a good reminder and incentive to use them before they go to waste – ultimately cutting down food waste and saving you money.
Ditch the Plastic Tupperware – Plastic Tupperware and plastics in general takes years and years to decompose in landfill. Not to mention, most plastic food storage isn’t meant to go in the dishwasher because exposing it to high heat can cause it to leach chemicals, just as storing acidic foods such as lemon juice or tomato sauce can cause chemicals in these containers to leach or degrade into your food. Start collecting jars from store bought items like pasta sauces, coconut oil, salsa, etc. – store your liquid items and leftover in these from now on. There are also tons of brands out there that carry glass food storage containers – these last longer, are easier to clean, and are safer to store food in.
Upgrade To a Power Strip – Using a power strip gives you the benefit of turning off multiple gadgets all at once before leaving the house. A lot of energy gets used when leaving gadgets plugged in when not in use or at home. When they are all connected to one switch, you’ll be more likely to turn them off!
Grow Your Own Herbs – Growing herbs is extremely easy, and most of them can even be grown indoors. We all spend a lot of money buying vegetables and herbs that we need on the daily basis. Cooking with your own herbs and vegetables means fresher food and no pesticides.
Cover Your Pans While Cooking – Covering your pans while cooking can reduce cooking time and also your energy bill by around 75%
Cut Your Food Into Small Pieces – By cutting your vegetables and meats into smaller pieces before cooking them, you’ll discover that cooking time takes a lot less time. You’ll save on time and energy bills and manage to feed yourself and family a lot faster!
Remember To Turn Off The Gas – Turn off the gas when your water starts boiling for your pasta, vegetables, or rice. Covering the pan and letting the food cook in its residual heat will save a great amount of gas and energy.
Use Eco-friendly Kitchen Gadgets – Switch your wooden and plastic kitchen utensils out with Bamboo, Molded Bamboo, or Stainless Steel. Bamboo is stronger and more durable than wood, and bamboo forests replenish themselves faster than tree/wood forests. Plastic utensils along with melamine utensils are known to leach chemicals when exposed to heat, contaminating food and potentially causing health issues.