Creating A Green Kitchen

Going green in the kitchen is a great place to start on the path to organic living. Creating a green kitchen can involve making the choice to buy organic food and produce, recycling, and taking a different approach to meals and food preparation. These are just some of the ideas found here. If you are thinking about remodeling your kitchen, you could also consider the possibility of rebuilding in a more eco-friendly way to create a healthier and more environmentally friendly space in your home.

1. Buy organic produce and shop at local Farmer’s Markets whenever possible. Buying direct from local, organic growers can support organic and sustainable farming practices and reduce carbon emissions from the transportation of produce over long distances.

--In the summer, take advantage of local “pick your own fruit” farms.

-- Check out this handy guide to buying organic produce at foodnews.org.

2. Join a local food co-op.

3. Make home-cooked meals with fresh produce and reduce your consumption of pre-packaged foods. This is not only healthier and tastier, as it avoids the highly processed and artificial ingredients in most pre-packaged foods, it also reduces the wastefulness of packaging materials.

4. Install water filters in your green kitchen to reduce additives and toxins in tap water. Some models can also be more energy efficient. Using water filters instead of bottled water also reduces the amount of waste from plastic bottles.

5. Stop using nonstick or aluminum cookware and switch to stainless steel, copper, ceramic or Pyrex. Chemicals in the coating of nonstick cookware emit toxins and fumes which are harmful to the body and toxic to the environment as well. The fumes are even known to be able to kill pet birds. The use of aluminum in cookware materials is also harmful and is implicated as a possible cause of Alzheimer’s disease.

6. A green kitchen means using healthier and more environmentally friendly cleaning products. Try using organic and eco friendly dish detergent, veggie wash, and glass cleaner for cleanups.

7. Instead of using paper towels and napkins, use cloth towels for cleanups and mealtimes and buy a set of cloth napkins. These are less wasteful as they can be laundered and used over and over again.

8. Reuse and recycle Ziplock bags and other plastic bags as much as possible. Ziplock bags are sturdy enough to be washed out and reused more than once. Also, instead of using plastic containers in which to store food, which contain harmful petrochemicals, purchase containers which can be used over and over again and are biodegradable and recyclable.

9. Recycle cans, bottles, beverage cartons, egg containers and all plastic containers. Placing a bin under the kitchen sink to separate the recyclables can be helpful.

10. Remember to compost organic waste and leftover food from the table for your garden outside.

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