For busy families, the kitchen can be the center of the home – somewhere to catch up on the day, grab a snack, and even work on homework – in addition to its traditional role in meal preparation.
But kitchens aren’t just gathering places with a stove. With the dish washing and cooking and refrigeration, they’re also one of the most energy-intensive rooms in the house. That’s why even small changes in the kitchen can make a big difference in the overall carbon footprint of the home.
With that in mind, we thought we’d share, courtesy of
Kitchen Daily, five easy ways to green-up your kitchen.
- Use your dishwasher. Repeated studies show that modern dishwashers (those made since 1994) get dishes cleaner than hand-washing and use less water, but only if you run them when they're full.
- Buy a fridge thermometer: A cheap (less than $10) fridge thermometer lets you set the temperature just right and avoid using too much electricity -- it should be between 36˚F and 38˚F for the fridge and 0˚F and 5˚F for the freezer, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.
- Say goodbye to bottled water: The fact is, bottled H2O is subject to far fewer federal safety regulations than what comes out of your faucet. Switch to tap water instead
- Give your sponge a second life: Toss it in a small pot of boiling water for five minutes. How easy is that? It not only sterilizes the sponge, it keeps it out of a landfill longer
- Replace one light bulb in your kitchen with a compact fluorescent (CFL): The secret to switching to CLFs is to pick the right bulb for the job. Color for CFL bulbs is measured in Kelvins; the number is often on the package. The cool, white light in the 3500K–4100K range is bright enough to mince garlic by but not so glaring to make your feel like you're working in a hospital cafeteria.