Kitchen Ideas: It’s Easy Being Green
Global warming grabs the headlines daily, yet many homeowners find it difficult to find ways to make their lives greener.
Fortunately, it’s not as hard as it appears. Earth friendly products are not only hip to have, but are more readily available than ever before.
If you’re looking for kitchen ideas for your home that will also help the earth, start with your appliances. Your refrigerator is the second biggest energy hog in your home, right after your furnace or AC. Add in the oven and you can quickly see that your kitchen is a major energy sucker. Replacing them with Energy Star rated appliances can cut the energy and water use in the kitchen by 10 to 50%. Over time, that's one of the many kitchen ideas that will impact your bottom line as well as help the environment.
Want more kitchen ideas that are green?
If you’re an avid cook, consider a convection oven during your appliance purge. A fan in the back of the oven circulates the air inside, reducing cooking times by up to 25%.
One of the best kitchen ideas is to change out your light bulbs. Already, legislators are working on new laws that will phase out the incandescent bulb. In its place will be compressed fluorescents, those spiral-looking bulbs popping up in stores everywhere. Fluorescents use up to 50% less power than traditional bulbs.
Once you’ve tackled the energy use side of the equation, you can use some of the new kitchen ideas that are totally green in terms of the environment.
Bamboo is quickly becoming the flooring and backsplash king in the kitchen. It also makes great cutting boards. Bamboo is a fast growing, renewable resource that looks good and doesn’t add to the deforestation problem in the world. Cork is another good choice for flooring. It is very sound absorbent, mold and mildew resistant and is made from the bark of a tree rather than the tree itself.
Green kitchen ideas extend to other parts of the kitchen as well.
In many communities, recycling is required. Converting a space in your kitchen for recycling makes it easy to get into the habit of recycling plastic, glass, cardboard and other materials. Most municipalities have recycling bins available for you to use.
In the dining room or eating area, using natural fibers for seats and tablecloths are good green ideas. Cotton and wool are renewable and don’t use environmentally unfriendly materials to make them, like man-made fabrics.
If you’re considering a remodel of your space, it’s the perfect time to incorporate kitchen ideas into your home that not only add value, but also help the environment. According to recent reports, a totally green home costs 20 to 30% more than a traditional home, but the savings from the reduced energy costs will make up for it over time. But even spending as little as 2 to 4% more during a remodel can add green kitchen ideas that will make your home more energy efficient and more environmentally friendly at the same time.
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