Eco-Friendly Cooking: How To Do It Right?

If you are trying to be responsible and keep the environment safe, going green in the kitchen should also be on your list. There are many ways in which you can make your way around the kitchen more eco-friendly, and they will not require any special changes in your cooking.

Eco-friendly cooking includes a lot of ways; however, not all of them can be applied in your kitchen. But, some of the basic ones are cooking with natural gas, shopping for organic products, buying ingredients from local farmers, saving and reusing cooking water, and ditching plastic bags.

Being responsible for the environment is of crucial importance, and even the tiny eco deeds can be of great help. A kitchen is a place where a lot of resources are wasted daily, so you need to think about ways to decrease that waste. In this article, I have included some of the most basic and simplest methods to help you engage in eco-friendly cooking.

Eco-Friendly Cooking: How To Do It Right?

A kitchen is a place where we spend most of our time since that is the area where we prepare the food that keeps us alive and healthy.

However, we should also think about saving our permanent home – the planet when we are preparing our dishes. In order to stay responsible and go green in your cooking, you can take up some simple eco-friendly methods that can make a significant difference.

Go For Eco-Friendly Cookware

It is common for people to purchase sets of cooking utensils, so they might end up with many unused pots and pans. They save some money, but use only the individual parts at the end.

In addition, make sure that you buy small utensils, so your cooking process can be done quickly and efficiently, i.e. you will enable some energy-saving.

Furthermore, think about the materials when you buy cookware. Recyclable cookware is the green option in this case. So, before you make the purchase, ensure that you read the labels. Some manufacturers offer cookware that comes with handles made of sustainable materials, such as bamboo, which means that you always have an eco-friendly option at your disposal.

Opt For A Smart Cooking Approach

A smart cooking approach can really make a difference in terms of being more responsible for the planet. A smart cooking approach does not involve any complex methods. On the contrary, you have to make some basic and simple changes to your cooking technique, and you will be on the right eco-friendly track.

Therefore, you can try some of the following methods that will take you up to a smart cooking level:

Use lids when cooking, so you will reduce cooking time.
When you heat smaller dishes, use the microwave instead of the oven to spend 50% less energy.
Heat water in a kettle instead of a pot since this is a great way to save energy. Later, you can transfer the boiled water into a pot.

Reuse Water

Water is not only our beverage, but it is also the most common ingredient in cooking. At the same time, water is the most endangered resource nowadays.

Therefore, when you use water to rinse rice, reuse the water for your plants instead of pouring it down the drain. This way, you will save water and enable your plants to grow better since the added starch from the water will encourage the growth of healthy bacteria.

Another way to save large amounts of water is by reusing the water you have used to cook pasta. Instead of wasting that water, you can reuse it to wash vegetables. Instead of leaving the water to run while washing vegetables, just pour the boiled pasta water, and you are good to go.

In addition, make sure that you always wash your vegetables at once. If you wash them separately, you are spending large amounts of clean water, and there is nothing eco-friendly about that.

Opt For Plant-Based And Fresh Food

A plant-based diet is recommended for many reasons. Firstly, this kind of food is healthier for your body. Secondly, you can maintain your weight more efficiently, and you will definitely have more energy since plants are known to be great energizers. Lastly, if you eat fresh food, there is no need for any cooking processes, meaning you are saving a lot of energy.

Develop Eco-Friendly Habits

A kitchen is a messy place. Most of the cooking methods require a lot of ingredients, so you end up with a lot of trash once you are done. This means that you will probably have a lot of dirty cookware and utensils, as well as plates and other dishes. Also, you will probably need some plastic bags to get rid of the trash.

If you are using a dishwasher, make sure it is full before turning it on. You probably have a lot of additional utensils and cookware, so you do not need the used ones immediately.

On the other hand, if you are hand-washing your dishes, then ensure that you do not leave your water running at all times. Instead, first, cover all of your dishes with soap, and then run the tap to rinse them.

When getting rid of the trash, use paper bags instead of plastic bags.

Finally, clean the kitchen with washable cloths instead of paper towels. You are not only saving paper this way, but you are cleaning more conveniently since washable clothes are way more absorbent than paper towels.

You do not need any special tools or methods to go green in your kitchen and become responsible in your daily routines. Developing eco-friendly habits today is more important than ever, so we need to make sure that we are doing everything we can to keep our planet as green as possible.