We all know how important it is to live sustainably, and one of the best ways to do this is to adopt eco-friendly kitchen habits. Planning ahead and avoiding over-buying food and recycling your packaging are two easy ways to do this. But what if you’re looking to do more than that? In this blog, we’ll look at what design elements you can incorporate into your new kitchen, as well as what you can add or change to your current kitchen with an eye towards environmental impact.
- Having an instant hot water tap
A boil tap means you don’t have to overfill your kettle, boil more water than you need, or waste electricity and water. Filtered water comes out of your tap at 98°, which is the same temperature as water poured out of a boiled kettle. Filtered water is ideal for making hot drinks, filling pots for pasta etc. Standard 3 in 1 taps have a hot / cold mixer on one side of the tap and a boiling water feature (including a safety switch) on the other side.
- Invest in a smart fridge
Manufacturers are creating refrigerators with technology to keep your food fresh longer. A few smart fridges have an automatic temperature range of 0°C to +3°C. This means that meat, fish, and dairy products will stay fresher for up to 3 times longer. With optimised moisture controls on the drawer, fruit and vegetables will stay fresh for up to 5 times longer.
- Keep everything in sight
Knowing when your food passes its use by /best before date is the best way to make sure you’re using what you’ve got before buying more. However, if it’s piling up in your back of cupboards, it can be difficult to keep track of it all. Having food packets and bins neatly organised in your drawers and cupboards means that they’re easy to see and, with the shorter dates at the front of the packets, you know you’re going to be using them in the right order. If you’re buying a new kitchen, you’ll want to make sure you have plenty of storage solutions to keep everything organised. Corner solutions, drawers that come with storage boxes, pull down storage for high cupboards are all great options.
- Invest in energy efficient appliances
The energy efficiency of new appliances is measured by measuring the kilowatts used per hour. The lower the number of units of energy consumed, the higher the efficiency rating. Appliances are graded from G (lowest efficiency) to A (most efficient), so it’s best to choose appliances with an A+ rating or higher. Checking the energy efficiency rating of new white goods is a good idea as an A+ appliance will save you an impressive 20% on your energy bills.
- Use concealed recycling bin systems
We all know how time-consuming it can be to sort your rubbish into different bins each time you take it out of the bin, but equally, you don’t want your kitchen floor and worktops covered in different bags and different recycling bins.
A concealed recycling bin system has different compartments for different types of waste and is installed in a cupboard or a deep drawer. It’s easy to access, easy to empty, and there’s no reason why even the smallest member of your family shouldn’t recycle and cut down on the amount of waste their household sends to landfill.
Berkshire kitchen designers at www.etlorem.com have more than few hints that can make your kitchen environmental friendly and energy efficient.
