10 Things an Eco-Friendly Kitchen Can't Do Without
Here are the tried and tested ways to make your kitchen greener and kinder
Jen Richards
16 July 2018
Houzz Australia Contributor. Freelance writer and researcher in the space where gastronomy meets sustainability. Providing compelling copywriting for eco-minded businesses.
Houzz Australia Contributor. Freelance writer and researcher in the space where gastronomy... More
It’s good to be minimal, but before you launch into a renovation or redesign, make sure you have considered these simple strategies to shrink the ecological footprint of your kitchen.
1. Functional design
For your kitchen to be truly eco-friendly, it has to be a place that encourages you to cook. This is because cooking at home means that you aren’t relying on heavily processed and packaged foods. Food processing and packaging create greenhouse gas emissions, plastic waste and environmental pollution. By cooking at home, you are able to help minimise this.
Make sure you equip your kitchen with items that make cooking plant-based ingredients a no-brainer – they are so much better for the environment than animal-based ones. Whether you need a salad spinner, a sharp peeler or a food processor, get yourself the things that make preparing vegetables easy.
How food safe are your kitchen habits? 13 things to ask yourself
For your kitchen to be truly eco-friendly, it has to be a place that encourages you to cook. This is because cooking at home means that you aren’t relying on heavily processed and packaged foods. Food processing and packaging create greenhouse gas emissions, plastic waste and environmental pollution. By cooking at home, you are able to help minimise this.
Make sure you equip your kitchen with items that make cooking plant-based ingredients a no-brainer – they are so much better for the environment than animal-based ones. Whether you need a salad spinner, a sharp peeler or a food processor, get yourself the things that make preparing vegetables easy.
How food safe are your kitchen habits? 13 things to ask yourself
2. An organised pantry
You don’t have to toss every used glass jar into the recycling bin. Most jars can be washed, and once their labels are removed, they become useful for pantry organisation. Recycled-glass jars not only look beautiful, they are also easy and convenient to fill with whole foods that can be bought in bulk, which means you can use less plastic packaging (and produce less plastic waste).
You don’t have to toss every used glass jar into the recycling bin. Most jars can be washed, and once their labels are removed, they become useful for pantry organisation. Recycled-glass jars not only look beautiful, they are also easy and convenient to fill with whole foods that can be bought in bulk, which means you can use less plastic packaging (and produce less plastic waste).
3. A fridge with a good seal
A fridge with a faulty seal will consume so much more energy than one with a seal in good condition. This costs you money, but it also produces excess greenhouse gas emissions. Make sure yours is airtight.
A fridge with a faulty seal will consume so much more energy than one with a seal in good condition. This costs you money, but it also produces excess greenhouse gas emissions. Make sure yours is airtight.
4. An induction cooker
If you are renovating, consider including an induction cooktop in your kitchen. Induction cooking (which uses a magnetic field to heat up the pan) is as fast and responsive as gas, but loses much less heat in the cooking process. This means that you will use less energy and ultimately create less CO2 emissions as you cook.
If you are renovating, consider including an induction cooktop in your kitchen. Induction cooking (which uses a magnetic field to heat up the pan) is as fast and responsive as gas, but loses much less heat in the cooking process. This means that you will use less energy and ultimately create less CO2 emissions as you cook.
5. A way to grow your own herbs
Growing your own herbs and other leafy greens in your kitchen eliminates the extra packaging of buying them. It also stops the food waste that you inadvertently generate when you use a little of a product in a recipe, but allow the rest go slimy in the fridge. And you get the benefit of fresh, flavourful produce for your food and a beautiful decoration for your space.
How to make your home a whole lot greener
Growing your own herbs and other leafy greens in your kitchen eliminates the extra packaging of buying them. It also stops the food waste that you inadvertently generate when you use a little of a product in a recipe, but allow the rest go slimy in the fridge. And you get the benefit of fresh, flavourful produce for your food and a beautiful decoration for your space.
How to make your home a whole lot greener
6. A way to help you remember your reusable shopping bags
Plastic bags can end up in landfill and in waterways where they are a menace to marine life. However, they are hard to avoid if you don’t have a system in place to help you remember to take your reusable ones. Create a place in your kitchen or near your entryway to store reusable bags, so that you remember to grab them as you head out the door.
Plastic bags can end up in landfill and in waterways where they are a menace to marine life. However, they are hard to avoid if you don’t have a system in place to help you remember to take your reusable ones. Create a place in your kitchen or near your entryway to store reusable bags, so that you remember to grab them as you head out the door.
7. A compost bin
Composting vegetable scraps keeps food waste (which can produce the greenhouse gas methane when it decomposes) out of landfill. You don’t need to have a vast backyard or big kitchen to compost. Under-counter solutions or a Bokashi bucket will do the job without the odour or inconvenience of traditional composting.
Composting vegetable scraps keeps food waste (which can produce the greenhouse gas methane when it decomposes) out of landfill. You don’t need to have a vast backyard or big kitchen to compost. Under-counter solutions or a Bokashi bucket will do the job without the odour or inconvenience of traditional composting.
8. Ways to sort your waste
While you are figuring out a way to sort out your food scraps, make sure you have a system to separate your other recyclables according to the rules of your local council or waste services provider. Mindfully sorting your waste, rather than tossing it all into a single out-of-sight-out-of-mind bin helps you to think about reducing the amount of waste you produce. This is essential for your kitchen to be sustainable in the long term.
Avoid these 8 kitchen blunders others tend to make
While you are figuring out a way to sort out your food scraps, make sure you have a system to separate your other recyclables according to the rules of your local council or waste services provider. Mindfully sorting your waste, rather than tossing it all into a single out-of-sight-out-of-mind bin helps you to think about reducing the amount of waste you produce. This is essential for your kitchen to be sustainable in the long term.
Avoid these 8 kitchen blunders others tend to make
9. A green cleaning kit
It’s easy to assemble an eco-friendly cleaning kit made up of products such as bi-carb soda, vinegar, lemon juice, borax and Epsom salts. These products work just as well as anything a supermarket can sell. However, if you do want ready-made products, choose ones with no micro particles of plastic. They end up polluting waterways, including being ingested by the fish that we go on to eat.
It’s easy to assemble an eco-friendly cleaning kit made up of products such as bi-carb soda, vinegar, lemon juice, borax and Epsom salts. These products work just as well as anything a supermarket can sell. However, if you do want ready-made products, choose ones with no micro particles of plastic. They end up polluting waterways, including being ingested by the fish that we go on to eat.
10. A new dishwasher
Newer models of dishwashers use less water than humans to wash the same amount of dirty dishes. So choose a modern, efficient dishwasher and use it without guilt as a way to save water in the kitchen.
Browse major kitchen appliances
TELL US
How many of these ideas have you integrated into your kitchen? Share your experiences – plus your recommendations – in the Comments below.
Newer models of dishwashers use less water than humans to wash the same amount of dirty dishes. So choose a modern, efficient dishwasher and use it without guilt as a way to save water in the kitchen.
Browse major kitchen appliances
TELL US
How many of these ideas have you integrated into your kitchen? Share your experiences – plus your recommendations – in the Comments below.
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Have been adhering to these principles for these past 30 years. Nice to know I'm on track!
if you want to be even more eco friendly start collecting stuff from council chuck out piles and garage sales and op shops before building, and of course the occasional interesting item can still be found at a building salvage yard or on gumtree... theres no need to buy anything bran new that is permanently fixed in the kitchen ...especially sinks ! there are stainless steel, that means they dont stain, so old is just as good as new.....cmon australia
Just wanted to mention the limitations of people with disabilities and severe chronic illnesses. Ready meals and precut and packaged vegetables delivered are the only option for many of us. Also many of us have problems absorbing iron from non haeme ( plant) sources and need to get our iron from animal sources, and plenty of it, in order to avoid anaemia. I have this issue as do a number of my friends ( all women). It’s easy to espouse such eco values but there are many impediments, not just the ones I’ve mentioned, to implementation. I also note that cooking ‘from scratch’ , recycling, kitchen organisation and composting are household tasks that are often added to the long list of expectations of women and mothers in particular.