green your kitchen

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Save energy with a pressure cooker

September 13, 2009 in Eco Kitchen, Food & Drink, Furniture & Appliances by Jennifer | 2 comments

There are all sorts of ways to save energy in the kitchen – but cooking with a pressure cooker is one of the best. Using a pressure cooker is a green kitchen move that not only saves energy, but allows you to creatively use leftovers and minimize food waste, and bonus – you’ll save money.


5 Qt Pressure Cooker

Using a pressure cookers can cut up 60-70% of your energy costs, which isn’t bad when you consider that overall, cooking typically makes up about 10% of your home’s energy use. You can’t use a pressure cooker for every single dish you make but they’re totally appropriate for tons of food items such as rice and other grains, soup, potatoes, beans, pasta, meat, and more.

Basic pressure cookers range from 4-6 quart sizes and come in various materials – but stainless steel is your best green bet for safety and recyclable qualities. A pressure cooker works by trapping steam inside the sealed cooker which saves energy from escaping and maintains a faster heating temperature, which allows food to cook much faster than say in a traditional pot.

Pressure cookers also allow you to cook with less fat and oil and dishes retain more nutrients. Plus pressure cooking helps to retains and intensifies flavors and can even tenderize tough cuts of meat. When choosing a pressure cooker look for a heavy bottom stainless steel cooker with heat resistant handles and an easy to manage lid.

To find a pressure cooker visit:

Learn more about using a pressure cooker or find great pressure cooker recipes.

What’s in an eco-friendly pantry?

July 29, 2009 in Eco Kitchen, Food & Drink by Jennifer | No comments

Eco-friendly kitchen pantries have some common themes…

  • Bulk food items in reusable bulk bags and containers. Bulk food cuts down on packaging considerably and most eco grocers and co-ops have fab bulk sections with everything from spices to flour to cereal to dried fruit to pasta. In fact you can usually get natural peanut butter in bulk even at most decent co-ops.
  • Large size of stuff you use all the time. The larger the package the better the eco-deal. I.e. a huge jar of tomatoes for sauce vs. a tiny can.
  • Food items that are free from double and triple packaging. It’s totally unnecessary to buy a box of food that’s sitting in a tray, wrapped in plastic, then placed in a box.
  • No individually wrapped items. Fruit snacks, granola bars, seasoning, crackers for kids, and candy can all be found in bulk or in larger loose packaging.
  • Bottles and jars that come with safety caps that pop – much better than shrink wrapped caps.
  • Glass bottles of condiments and juice vs. plastic.
  • Local and organic food items. At least a decent bulk of your food items should be organic, bulk and in season.
  • Simple food items such as brown rice or plain noodles rice mixes and noodle mixes for instance.The former food items use more package than necessary and often contain lots of chemicals and preservatives.

What’s in your pantry – have you looked lately to see what you might be able to make greener?

Do You Need A New Greener Fridge?

November 7, 2008 in Furniture & Appliances by Jennifer | 2 comments

You might. There are some easy ways to figure out if it’s time for a new greener fridge, or if you should stick with what you’ve got.

If it’s old: Older refrigerators suck up double the energy of new Energy Star refrigerators. A good rule of thumb is that if it’s older than 12 years, start shopping.

If it’s newer: Even newer fridges may be replaced with a more energy efficient version. Just because it’s new, doesn’t mean you ended up with the most efficient model. Of course this means you’d be giving up a fridge (lots of materials and cost) which is something else to consider. To learn how much money you could save by trading up to a greener fridge, visit the Refrigerator Retirement Savings Calculator, then decide.

If it’s broken: If there’s a major issue with your fridge, and it’s going to cost a lot to fix PLUS it’s already old, thus less efficient, I wouldn’t pay for the repair. If you can swing it, get a newer fridge.

What’s next?:

Find a recycling center for your old fridge. Visit the Recycle My Old Fridge Campaign or Earth 911 to get started.

You also might be interested in:

Just for fun: DIY Recycled Refrigerator Magnets

10 Fast Ways to Green Your Kitchen

October 22, 2008 in Green Your Home by Jennifer | 2 comments

1. Green your brew: Use a reusable coffee filter instead of paper filters (I’ve had mine for four years now, and it’s in great shape). If tea is your drink, use loose leaf tea, instead of paper bound tea bags.

2. Green your trash: Recycle and compost more than you are now. Most of us can afford to complete a trash audit. You’d be surprised at what ends up in the garbage can.

3. Green your cleaning: You don’t need harsh cleaners in any room of the house. But there’s food in the kitchen, so being more careful in this room counts even more.

4. Green your herbs: Grow your own organic herbs. They taste better, cost less, and make your windowsill a little more beautiful.
Read the rest of this entry »

Cut out pre-packaged food items

September 7, 2008 in Green Your Home by Jennifer | No comments

Pre-packaged foods create so much extra waste that it’s overwhelming. One of the best ways to green your kitchen is to start concentrating on packaging.

bulk food

Sure you can recycle many parts, often even all of the packaging that packaged foods come in, but consider that it also takes energy to produce this packaging, and also consider that studies show, that not everyone recycles all the time. It’s best to avoid overly pre-packaged goods when you can.

For example:

Instead of juice boxes – use a cup. If you’re on the go, use a refillable, reusable container.

Instead of buying bottled water – use tap water or install a water filter.

Instead of individual tiny boxes of cereal – buy bulk, or the biggest box of cereal available.

Instead of sliced cheese in individual wrappers – choose block cheese and slice it yourself, or have the cheese counter folks do it for you.

I bet you can think of plenty of items you buy that come in too much wrapping. Start small. Next time you’re at the store, take the time to compare. Do you need rice that comes in a box, or can you buy bulk? Do you need raisins in tiny boxes and plastic, or will bulk do here as well? If bulk food choices aren’t available in the food item of choice, choose the least packaged item first.

Read Green Audit Your Pantry to learn more.