10 Easy Ways to Go Green in the Kitchen

Want to make the planet a better place while also making your life a little simpler? That'due south the dazzler of practicing eco-friendly habits in the kitchen. From maximizing leftover ingredients to batch cooking for super efficiency, have some easy steps to go green at domicile.

green tote bag filled with different produce and nearly overflowing

The more ways you can find to go light-green in the kitchen, the better the payoff for the planet-and your pocketbook! Pocket-size addiction changes can add together up to a big difference. Here are a few easy ways to get more sustainable every day.

  1. Shop with reusable bags. Dispensable plastic grocery bags require huge amounts of fossil fuels to produce each year. So they end up in landfills, where they can degrade and release toxic chemicals that harm wildlife. Luckily, in that location's an like shooting fish in a barrel alternative. Keep reusable textile numberless in your machine so you'll e'er have them gear up for a grocery run. Bring smaller bags for your produce. (Bonus: no more using precious space to shop dozens of plastic bags.)
  2. Get meatless one time or twice a week. You've probably already heard of Meatless Monday. It'south a world-broad movement encouraging anybody to eat vegetarian one time a week. Going meatless (even role-fourth dimension) reduces your carbon footprint and cuts down on using resources like fossil fuel and fresh h2o. (Bonus: you'll save money!) Veggie eating now and then is easier than you might retrieve. Savor some favorite vegetarian dishes with only five ingredients.
  3. Practice batch cooking. Heating upwards your oven? Don't just roast a single craven-fill up that oven up. Toss in a pan of veggies or a pizza chaff. You lot'll save lots of energy when you cook multiple foods at once. Double recipes and save half for later (a nifty play a joke on to lighten up your workload, besides). We've got more easy tips for meal planning correct this way.
  4. Salve leftovers! Don't allow leftovers languish in the fridge until they mold. Use them. The easiest style is to eat the meal over again, of course, just even pocket-sized leftovers and scraps have value. The basic from your roast chicken and the scraps from chopped vegetables tin make a delicious bootleg soup stock. Reimagine leftover roasted carrots by blending them into a soup. Stir-fry leftover rice. Toast stale bread for croutons; so good!
  5. Cut out disposable plates and silverware. This one's pretty straightforward. Avoid disposable plates and utensils, especially plastics. Opt for existent plates and flatware instead. Enamel camping plates don't break! Bring a set of silverware to go along at work, and you can cutting disposables out of your eating habits completely.
  6. Look for rubber nonstick pans. Many nonstick pans are made with chemicals that scientists and health professionals think are harmful-PFAS and PFOA. They're also traditionally coated with Teflon, which breaks down at high temperatures. That means your pans could be leeching chemicals into your food. Supervene upon sometime-school nonstick with new ceramic nonstick pans. Look for pans labeled "PFOA-gratuitous."
  7. Shop local when yous can. Buying nutrient from local suppliers means it hasn't had to travel far to get to you. It has a lower carbon footprint, and it's often fresher tasting. It might be less expensive, as well. Check out farmers markets and local businesses that grow and sell food near you to find what'southward in season in your surface area!
  8. Store organic when y'all can. It'southward true that certified organic food tin cost more. However, that higher price tag also means your food's been grown with responsible farming methods that promote biodiversity, avoid pesticides and petroleum-based fertilizers-and yield some big benefits for the environment.
  9. Skip the b ottled water. Americans spend billions of dollars on bottled h2o. Simply that h2o has a high price tag at the check-out counter, and information technology also takes a large toll on the surroundings. Packaging, production, and distribution all have a footprint. If you want to purify your tap h2o, invest in a long-lasting water filter or bullpen filter. On-the-go? Get a reusable water canteen. You'll save a bundle and eliminate a lot of your household'southward plastic waste.
  10. Recycle. You're probably already doing this, but if non, why not? It takes almost no added effort beyond setting up a 2d bin for recyclables. Put information technology near your garbage can, and it'll shortly be a habit to toss paper, plastic, glass and metallic at that place. Yous should as well consider reusing items! Here are 15 creative ways to repurpose glass jars.

Originally Published: April 05, 2017