Let’s face it; an inordinate amount of time is spent in the
kitchen, especially around this time of year. What with playoff games, the
Super Bowl, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years all piled together.
Here are a few small steps you can take to make your kitchen a
greener scene and save you a few dollars to use on your Christmas shopping
list:
Match your burner to your pot size. I actually just did
this last night: put a 6-inch pot on an 8-inch burner. But it wastes more than
40 percent of the burner’s heat! Just choosing a smaller electric burner can
save you about $36 annually. You know what also saves energy? High-conductivity
pots which heat up faster than steel pans and can reduce cooking time.
Oven strategies. Turn off your oven for the last five minutes
of cooking – it saves energy and the oven is already hot enough to finish the
job.
Buy eco-friendly cookware. Nonstick, Teflon-coated cookware can be dangerous at
high temperatures (like when boiling pasta for that childhood staple, Mac n’
cheese). Heated to over 600°, the coating can break down and release a chemical
called perfluorooctanoic acid (or PFOA) which is harmful to animals. So opt for
aluminum, cast iron, or copper.
Buy local or plant a garden. Think about the
carbon footprint of a piece of fruit that comes from Africa. The fewer miles
the food has to travel to your table, the better. Having the ability to pick
some fresh cilantro, bell pepper, or whatever your fancy may be from your
backyard before preparing a meal is not only convenient but also cost
efficient. Plus it’s so fresh!
Compost. Composting is a great way to
get rid of the massive quantities of leftovers Moms face after every meal.
Instead of saying, “But you JUST SAID you WANTED strawberries!” save yourself
some stress and toss it, guilt-free, into the compost pile.
Reuse. Turn peanut butter
jars into mini flower vases. Make sand toys out of plastic containers. Create
costumes and art projects out of paper towel rolls and old tin foil.
Rethink the sink. Here’s some good news: running a full load in the
dishwasher actually uses less water than washing by hand. If you use the “air
dry” feature instead of “heated dry” you get bonus points – and save energy.
Quick cuts. Get a cutting board
made of reclaimed or sustainably harvested wood – I saw some at the grocery
store even! Bacteria thrive in the grooves made in plastic cutting boards by
your knife, whereas wood has natural anti-bacterial properties. And it looks
pretty too.
There are lots of ways to make a greener kitchen by reducing,
recycling, reusing and of course, saving energy. But more importantly, it gives
you the perfect excuse to ask for one of those gorgeous copper (or cast iron)
pots for Christmas.
