by Julie Hall

We all need to find ways to make our lives greener, for our own health, the ecological health of our world, and energy conservation. Your kitchen is one of the most important and effective places to go green or greener, as the case may be. Here is a sure-fire twelve-step-program toward a greener kitchen lifestyle:

12 Steps to a Greener Kitchen

1. Don’t eat your pot. Use nonreactive (inert) or moderately reactive cookware, such as Enamel, Earthenware, stainless steel, or cast iron. Avoid Teflon and aluminum. The jury is still out on Green Pan products, but if you are interested in this technology do your research before you buy.
2. Use glass instead of plastic storage containers. Over time and when heated, plastics leach bisphenol A, phthalates, and other unsavory chemicals. You can find good glass options in various shapes and sizes at Crate and Barrel.
3. Kick your other plastic habit. Use reusable containers, bags, and bottles instead of plastic wrap, plastic bags, and plastic bottles.
4. Eat local and organic. This supports small farmers and local economies and reduces unsustainable industrial agriculture and the use of pesticides and insecticides.
5. Get real. Eat whole, minimally processed, and minimally packaged foods. “Real” food is healthier (for you and the planet) to eat, produce, package, and ship.
6. Use nontoxic soaps. Exchange your traditional soaps for eco-friendly, biodegradable dish soap, hand soap, dishwasher soap, and scouring powder. For example, try Bon Ami for ecofriendly scouring! Inexpensive white vinegar works great as a spot remover in your dishwasher.
7. Conserve water. Install a water aerator on your faucet and modify your rinsing and washing habits.
8. Use your toaster oven more. For smaller heating needs, it uses less energy than your large oven does.
9. Expand your recycling. Recycle cardboard and paper packaging as well as the standard glass, tin, and plastic. Revamp your at-home recycling system to make it quick and easy.
10. Toss your table salt. Highly processed traditional table salt contains anti-caking agents and other additives. Use Kosher salt for cooking and sea salt in a grinder at the table.
11. Can your canned food. Most canned food containers have an epoxy lining that contains bisphenol A (BPA) at even higher levels than plastics do. When you can’t get fresh food, buy frozen or food in glass jars instead of cans. Frozen vegetables and fruits are healthier (have fewer or no additives), fresher, and taste better than canned anyway. Some companies, like Eden, use nontoxic canning methods.
12. Compost! Keep a compost bucket next to your sink. An inexpensive enamel pot with a lid and handle works just as well as the expensive models you can buy that are marketed as composting buckets. If you don’t have a backyard for your own compost pile, consider initiating a communal composting project for your apartment building or neighborhood. It reduces landfill waste, creates healthy habitat for Earth friendly insects and worms, and produces great gardening soil.

Images by Julie Hall, January 2009.
©2009 ProgressiveKid

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