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Ten
Tips for Greening Your Kitchen/Dining Habits
Sara B. Ducey,
M.S., C.N.S
Metro Talk
July 27, 2008
©
All rights reserved.
1.
Evaluate
your trash. How much food are you
throwing out? Is this because you were
lulled into the low unit price of foods at the local big box/ warehouse store? A lot of what we find in landfills are foods and food-related trash.
2.
Eat
less food. I know you’re laughing, but
consider this. Most of us are easily
eating 10 percent or more than our bodies require. By purchasing and eating just a touch less
food we save money, and the earth – and slim down gently. Eat 20 percent less meat and replace with
high nutrient vegetable-based foods.
This saves energy/ earth resources, too.
3.
Be
more efficient in your meal planning and preparation. Cook a double batch of food (get two meals
for the energy use of about one.)
4.
Minimize
use of disposable plates, cups, and flatware.
Buy a set of re-usable cups, plates and flatware for your clubs and
scouts. Let each family wash and return
the supplies. Help your family reduce the number of glasses and they use. At the office, use a mug, not paper. Take your mug with you to meetings.
5.
Buy
or make two dozen cotton napkins. Use
these everyday instead of paper. You can
use one napkin for all three meals in the day (have a napkin ring that is
distinct, for each family member.) I
don’t do that. I just wash a lot of
napkins. They take virtually no extra
water or soap – they just ride along with my other clothes. I have some napkins that have lasted years,
wash after wash. Recycle your old towels so and use them, instead of wads of
paper towels in your cleaning.
6. Support your local farmers’ markets. Get into Community Supported Agriculture – CSA. Go to www.localharvest.org to learn more.
7.
Purchase
and prepare sustainable fish. Go to www.seafoodwatch.org to find out more. Buy animal foods from smaller farms – they
tend to be more gentle on the earth.
Pasture-fed beef actually sequesters carbon! Go to www.eatwild.com to find local sources of
animal foods, such as meat, milk and cheese.
8.
Use
less toxic cleaning materials in the kitchen and throughout your home. Stop buying/using toxic fluoride-containing
non-stick cookware. There are several
companies who have recently come out with non-toxic, ceramic non-stick
pans. Get one.
9.
Grow
green! Have a pot of herbs in your
kitchen in the winter. In the spring,
plant a box of several cutting herbs out on your window sill, balcony or deck. For those of you with a piece of earth and
sun – go for it!
10.
Over
time, replace older appliances with Energy Star appliances. The refrigerator is typically the biggest
energy hog in your home. If you buy a
new one, it can save you a lot of watts!
