A Green Kitchen! Fast and easy tips

It is time to talk about one of the rooms of the house what always gets all the attention during the holidays, and all year long… the kitchen. This is the room where most of the activity (from eating, to chatting, to doing homework) in the house takes place all day long, every day… morning, noon and nights, and even late nights… there is always a reason to go to the kitchen.

And because the kitchen gets so much of our day, it is one of the rooms in the house that needs the most attention and care. From floor to ceilings, there is always something to clean in the kitchen.

I think it is a good time to have an overview of things we can do in our kitchen to lead a greener life.

1. When using the oven, make that baby work! How? Using oven takes a lot of energy, it is a good thing to cook a few things at the same time when the oven is on. Unless it’s a cake and you should keep the oven door closed, you can roast your vegetables, while the meat is roasting. Or better make ahead a lot of meals at one time, takes less energy and saves a lot of time on week nights .
2. White Vinegar and Baking Soda are the best natural cleaners. No need to spend on commercial cleaners that come in plastic bottles.
3. Use glass containers with lid to store food, instead of warping plastic wraps on the food plate.
4. If you need to use a cover or wrap use the reusable ones that you can find at your favorite local grocery store or online.
5. Pack lunch in reusable bags or containers instead of using plastic bags. It is unfortunate that a zip lock bag, for example, it is used only once and then it goes to the trash. A container is something that you can do over and over.
6. Plastic cutlery and paper plates are just additional garbage, washing dishes are a bit hassle but they say it is therapeutic too!!!!
7. Don’t waste food, freeze left overs and create a left over night when you can reheat and few one portion meals to enjoy. Save money and time at the same time!
8. Compost if you can, if not there are organizations that take food waste for compost. Need a little bit of research to find about your area’s special deals and programs on compost. Most of the times there is subsidized programs by government.
9. If using the dishwasher, make sure that is completely full. And don’t use excessive dishwasher detergent, it will just leave residue!
10. Keep your fridge full, amazingly it takes more energy to keep a half empty fridge cold !

These are the 10 items of many that happens in the kitchen. Remember, a kitchen is the heart of the home. Let’s keep that area in the house friendly to the planet.