You can really take advantage of eco-friendly techniques and products in the kitchen in your efforts to go green and reduce your carbon footprint. Here are some easy ways strategies you can do today.
Give up the Plastic
As much as possible, choose groceries that have minimal packaging or no packaging at all. Cooking from scratch will generate the least amount of excess plastic and paper. Baking your own bread, making sauce from scratch and avoiding prepared or prepackaged foods can all help reduce the amount of waste your household generated.
If you do need to purchase something with packaging (try taking home yogurt, fresh mozzarella or other dairy products without anything to contain it), check the bottom of the plastic packaging to see if you can recycle it.
Bring your own canvas bags to the grocery store or any retail store and forget the plastic they offer. Some stores will even credit you a small amount per bag.
Go for the Clean Green
Choose eco-friendly cleaners for your kitchen and bath. Make sure to read the labels, because a cleaner may have a “green” mention on the product and are only referring to the packaging itself, not the cleaner. Greenseal.org is a great place for cleaners that are eco-certified. Or, try using my favorite cleaner which is both safe and inexpensive: vinegar and water.
Recycle Station
Make sure that you have a recycle station in your kitchen. Having an easy place to throw recyclable packaging and products will make you more likely to recycle. We keep a small cardboard box in our kitchen near the garbage can. When the box is full, the contents get transfered to large recycling cans in our garage. Fortunately, we don’t have to sort, but if you do, sort as you empty your small kitchen container.
What are your favorite ways to go green in the kitchen?
Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.
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