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Green
Kitchen Remodeling Tips
Green Kitchen Remodeling
encompasses everything from what you eat to how you cook it. There’s a
ton of things you can do in your kitchen that will help lessen your
impact on the environment. From using a water saving faucet, to energy
efficient appliances to cleaning with non-toxic cleaners, going green in
the kitchen can be great for the environment as well as for your budget.
Green Kitchen Remodeling
– Save a Tree
One little thing you can do is reduce your use of paper towels. The
average family uses several rolls of paper towels a week but you can
reduce your usage by keeping some cloth towels handy in the kitchen and
use those for wiping your hands, spills and other uses that would
normally call for a paper towel. You’ll save money on paper towels and
there will be less of them in the landfill which, in turn, helps the
environment. Also, the less paper towels that are manufactured, the less
pollution in the air from those manufacturing plants.
Green Kitchen Remodeling
Cooking Ideas – SAVE MONEY
Did you realize that some types of cooking are more energy efficient
than others? While many cooks love a gas stove, the fact is that the
newer model electric stoves are more energy efficient. Not only that,
but if you opt for a toaster oven or microwave instead of using your big
oven, you can drastically reduce the energy needed for cooking.
Green Kitchen Remodeling
– Buy Local
Another thing you can do in the kitchen to help the environment is buy
local whenever you can. While this might seem like a small thing,
transporting food is actually a big drag on the environment. Flying
bananas into upstate New York from the tropics can be costly in terms of
air pollution. Not to mention that foods from the grocery store can be
loaded with pesticides and your local growers probably don’t put so much
junk on their crops. Plus, it’s nice to support the farmers in your own
community.
Green Kitchen Remodeling
– Re-use, Recycling and Composting
Using reusable cloth grocery bags, reusing jars and composting organic
materials are great ways to reduce waste. You can compost your kitchen
scraps, paper and even cardboard. This will make great fodder for your
garden and does double duty as it acts as an organic fertilizer saving
you from buying fertilizer which saves you money and ensures that
harmful chemicals don’t leach into the environment from commercial
fertilizers you might have had to purchase.
Possibly the most important
thing you can do to be “greener” in the kitchen is to recycle. Make sure
you get a good handle on all the plastic and glass materials you use
that can be recycled. Check the rules at your landfill as to what has to
be separated out and buy yourself some bins to help you keep things
separate.
Green Kitchen Remodeling
– Be Aware of the Environment
Lastly, you want to keep the environment in mind when you clean.
Cleaners full of chemicals can be bad for the environment and the fumes
from these can be harmful to the health of yourself and your family.
There are plenty of natural things you can use for cleaning like
vinegar, baking soda and tea tree oil that will help keep your kitchen
sparkling without harming you or the environment.
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