Getting Efficient In The Kitchen

It’s obvious why the kitchen can often be a source of waste. With all the packaging, peeling, energy use and more that goes on when cooking and preparing food is involved, its environmental impact can add up quickly.

Here are a few things that you can do to be ore efficient and save on waste, energy use and consequently money, by being smarter about how you use your kitchen.

Say goodbye to plastic waste

You can dramatically reduce your consumption of single-use plastic goods with just a little effort. For instance, instead of using checkout plastic bags, try reusable shopping bags instead. These are more durable and can be used for more than just shopping.

Also replace plastic food wrap with reusable sandwich wrap. This means you won’t have to keep buying more disposable plastic and will generate less waste.

Be aware of your appliances

Only cook with your electric oven when you really need to, as it uses up more energy than other appliances such as microwaves, frying pans or pressure cookers.

As well as this, don’t open your oven unnecessarily to check on food – it will lose a lot of heat this way and have to use up energy producing more.

With a few behavioural changes, you can be more kitchen efficient and save heaps of energy on stovetop cooking too. Keep the lid on your pots as much as possible so that you don’t lose heat, while simmering rather than intense boiling will also use less energy.

If you’re cooking on a gas top, make sure the flame is right under the middle of your pots and pans. With an electric stovetop, you’ll want to make sure that you use kitchenware with flat bases which are the same size as the elements, for the most efficient way of cooking.