How To Be An Eco-Friendly Cook

  

Photo by August de Richelieu from Pexels

Going green and being eco-friendly in all aspects of life is quickly becoming the norm, and the kitchen is an excellent spot to begin making ecologically friendly lifestyle choices. You can conserve energy, minimize your carbon footprint impact, and keep an eye on your money in a variety of ways, from the food you purchase to the manner it’s prepared and kept.

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Eco-friendly cooking is not only better for the earth; it is also better for you and your family. Read on to find out how to get started. 

 Buy Local 

One of the most significant ways that shopping locally benefits the environment is by eliminating food miles. When you buy locally, you are buying things made in your neighborhood, or at least very close by. When you go grocery shopping, many of the goods you would generally purchase travel, on average, 1,000 miles to reach your plate. By minimizing these distances, you are lowering the environmental effect of your meals. Local food does not generate big carbon footprints due to not needing international air flights or lengthy truck trips. This reduces both fuel usage and air pollution. There is no need for shipping, packaging, or refrigeration on the journey in many cases either. 

 

Don’t Waste Anything 

One of the problems when it comes to cooking is that we waste a lot of food, and that’s not good for anyone. It’s not good for you because you’re spending money on things and then just throwing them out, and it’s not good for the environment because the more demand there is, the more the produce will be grown, causing more pollution and waste. If everyone were able to use only what they needed, that would be much better. 

 

Alternatively – or as well as – if we can understand how to deal with waste better, that would help too. You could start a compost area in your yard and use the scraps and leftovers to feed it. Or you could look at how to make new things out of leftovers; this donut recipe by Sugar Geek Show uses up sourdough discard, for example. 

 

Use Eco-Friendly Cookware 

While ecologically friendly cookware won’t turn you into a gourmet chef overnight, it will help you save energy in the kitchen and prevent toxic chemicals from contaminating your family’s food.

 

Traditional nonstick pans are coated with Teflon, which begins to degrade at temperatures over 450 degrees Fahrenheit (232 degrees Celsius). Because most stoves reach greater temperatures, the Teflon starts to degrade after just a few months. Many cookware manufacturers are now using a new ceramic technology meant to prevent food from sticking. And because of the great heat conductivity of the aluminum used, pots and pans built with innovative ceramic-based non-stick technology require less time to heat the surface to the correct cooking temperature. Its ceramic layer does not deteriorate until temperatures above 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit (538 degrees Celsius). This saves energy and means you don’t have to buy new items (and discard the old ones) so often. 

 

You can also look for cookware produced from recyclable resources, such as handles made of recycled aluminum. Some manufacturers also sell cookware with handles made of environmentally friendly materials such as bamboo.