| Living a greener life is not only good for the planet's | | | | or slow cooker to use less energy when cooking. |
| health, it's good for your health and the health of your | | | | 4. Skip the food processor and electric mixer for small |
| family. Maintaining a bright green kitchen - in terms of | | | | jobs. Some of the best kitchen appliances use no |
| energy efficiency and energy use, not color - can | | | | energy at all - an old-fashioned egg beater, for |
| reduce your carbon footprint, but it can also help you | | | | instance, can whip cream or egg whites with just a |
| feed your family a healthier, more delicious diet. The | | | | little elbow grease. |
| way that you shop, cook, serve and clean up after | | | | 5. Don't preheat your oven. Most modern ovens heat |
| serving meals all contribute to creating not just a | | | | quickly enough that preheating is redundant. |
| healthy kitchen but a bright green kitchen. | | | | Serve It Green |
| Shopping Tips for a Greener Kitchen | | | | |
| | | | 1. If you must use disposable dishes and serving ware, |
| 1. Buy local when you can. It means less fuel was used | | | | use paper which can go into your compost, or look for |
| to transport your food, and less carbon dioxide in the | | | | post-consumer recycled materials. |
| atmosphere. | | | | 2. Using fewer dishes means washing fewer dishes - |
| 2. Shop at farmers' markets. You know you're buying | | | | less energy needed for cleanup. There's no need to |
| locally, and contributing to the local economy as well. | | | | dump vegetables from the cooking pot into a serving |
| Keeping local farmers in business is good for | | | | dish. |
| everyone. | | | | 3. Garnish food with edible fresh flowers and herbs |
| 3. Skip "serving size packs" of food and buy in bulk. It | | | | from your own garden. Gardening is one way to |
| reduces the amount of trash going into the landfills. | | | | reduce your carbon footprint by absorbing carbon |
| 4. Bring your own bags. Every plastic bag you don't | | | | dioxide from the atmosphere. |
| use is one less bag in the trash. For an added bonus, | | | | 4. Serve food when it's ready to avoid having to keep |
| many stores will take 5-10 cents off your grocery bill | | | | food warm. |
| for every bag you bring. | | | | Green Kitchen Cleanup Tips |
| 5. Look for the recycle symbol on products that you | | | | |
| buy in plastic bottles to make sure you're buying | | | | 1. If you only have a couple of plates and cups, wash |
| containers that can be recycled. | | | | them by hand instead of running the dishwasher. |
| Green Cooking Tips | | | | 2. When hand-washing, fill the sink instead of washing |
| | | | and rinsing under running water. |
| 1. Raw foods use no energy at all in preparation. Serve | | | | 3. Compost fruit and vegetable peels and leftovers. |
| fruits and vegetables au naturel as snacks and | | | | Good for your garden, good for the planet. |
| desserts. | | | | 4. It's actually kinder to the environment to run the |
| 2. Use the right size burner for your pots and pans. | | | | dishwasher for a full load of dishes than to wash them |
| Don't put a small pan on a large burner - it wastes up | | | | by hand. |
| to 40% of the energy used to heat the burner. | | | | 5. Recycle as much as possible - glass, cans and |
| 3. Think small. Use the smallest cooking appliance | | | | cardboard are all recyclable. The more you recycle, |
| possible when cooking. A full-size oven wastes a lot of | | | | the less goes into the landfills to clog up our earth. |
| energy heating empty space. Try a counter top oven | | | | |