Sustainable Kitchen

The kitchen is undoubtedly the room of the house with the greatest environmental impact. Are in fact considerable consumption of energy and water, but not forget also the use of detergents and the production of waste. Let us see some tricks to use and environmentally conscious cuisine.

Sustainable use of appliances

The energy consumption of appliances in the kitchen are a large part of household electricity consumption. In previous articles we have already seen how to save energy with the fridge and even after how many years it is convenient to replace it.

We also examined the idea of a German designer, Ursula Tischner, who in his thesis in industrial design has studied the idea of giving the refrigerator a fresh air intake to cool ecologically during the winter months.

In addition, we focused on the rules of behavior for a sustainable use of the dishwasher and oven , considering when it is preferable to use the oven than the microwave. In addition to what already said for the oven, I should mention that are preferable stoves of small dimensions because they have less air volume to be maintained at elevated temperature.

Sustainable use of the kitchen

When you can choose the type of stove, it is generally more advantageous to install a traditional gas stove compared to an induction hob. For gas cooktops are also preferred models with high performance burners, which ensure proper combustion and flame stability. A check on the proper functioning of the burner is to check the color of the flame. A blue flame indicates a correct and adjust the combustion process, a yellow flame and irregular instead a negative signal.

The constant cleaning of the burner is another important precaution. In fact, encrusted food debris can clog the heat and reduce the efficiency of the stove.

To each burner is then assigned a pan the right size. Allow the flame to exit the diameter of the pot is a waste of energy, as well as being damaging to the pot and the dishes inside which tend to burn easily.

There are other rules of conduct for the selection of pots. To limit the cooking time and therefore the emission of carbon monoxide, it is preferable to use the pressure cooker or cooking often using the lids, especially to bring water to a boil. Excellent is also the yield of the cast iron plates, which tend to keep the accumulated heat and use it better for cooking.

How many of you, then, when cooking pasta, are used to fill the pot using the 'hot tap water? This habit would be eliminated, since the energy required to heat the water to the boiler is definitely higher than that used by the stove.

Among the various sustainable solutions for the kitchen also remember the biogas cookers , which we have already discussed in a previous article.

Sustainable water use in the kitchen

A great trick is to apply to tap the 'low-flow aerator, which mixes the water with air, increasing its ability to rinse and then making it use less. Lately, nearly all new faucets come with them.

When you decide to wash the dishes in the sink is always useful to plug the bottom to form a basin of soapy water and use the water only to rinse the dishes. Some even reuses water from the pasta to wash the dishes because it seems that the starch has degreasing.

Reducing waste in the kitchen

To limit the waste coming out of our kitchen we have to start from shopping. Let us arm ourselves more and reusable shopping bags, and when we buy, we opt for foods preferably zero km, with a short chain, without packaging and season.

In this regard, in recent times many families are enrolling to GAS, or fair trade groups, carrying out orders of foods for groups of people turning to the farmers.

On the issue of the package, note that for some products, such as detergents, now you can buy refills for dispenser or use distributors on tap.

Not omit from the last garbage collection differentiated and the possibility of making compost for the garden or house plants using organic waste of the kitchen. Stumble about some systems of composting in small containers that you can keep in the living room and the description of which has already been addressed in another article.