Design and functionality are often high priorities for any kitchen. Nowadays, homeowners want ones that are eco-friendly too. From reclaimed to recycled, inspirational ideas for eco-friendly kitchen designs can even make the home more inviting.
Not all changes need to be costly ones, or larger overhauls of your design. So, why not try to make your kitchen more environmentally friendly?
What is an Eco-Friendly Kitchen?
Transforming your kitchen into an eco-friendly one can start small. For many, eating greener and adopting a sustainable lifestyle, can be the early steps to transforming an everyday kitchen into an eco-friendly one. Yet, it doesn’t end there.
Eco-friendliness can be as expensive or inspirational as you make it. For newer homes or renovations, the likes of renewable energy sources, such as solar panelling, or energy-efficient appliances can help achieve that truly healthy kitchen. Yet, all ranges of budgets and kitchen sizes can quickly and easily channel this sustainable way of living and achieve eco-friendly status.
How to Make Your Kitchen Eco-Friendly
An eco-friendly kitchen can not only help sustain the environment and sometimes lower the costs of energy bills (such as lighting), it can also empower your wellbeing through a healthier lifestyle.
But how can you conveniently transform your everyday kitchen into one that is sustainable and benefits your lifestyle and the environment?
Any transformation – from everyday to sustainable – can start with the resources you already have. Larger, costlier changes can usher in meaningful improvements, too. But that often requires a financial resourcefulness that’s not always practical. Yet, starting small can be every bit as inspirational for many homeowners.
Below are 5 tips for creating an eco-friendly kitchen.
1. Grow It All Yourself
Rather than purchase pre-packaged or frozen foods, consider regrowing from your scraps and leftovers in the kitchen. If the goal of your kitchen redesign is to empower a healthier lifestyle, then using this space to train your diet on self-grown vegetables and fruits is a great starting point. This doesn’t necessarily mean DIY gardening, but can actually mean that you learn how to regrow vegetables from your kitchen.
By harvesting and sustaining the leftover roots, not only are you empowering your diet by controlling its nutrition, but you’re also cutting down your food’s lifecycle (which means wasting less energy). This kind of diligence – knowing where your food if coming from – can kickstart your new sustainable lifestyle.
2. Recycle, Reuse, Reclaim
The small, easy and convenient steps are often the most impactful. In your kitchen you can encourage sustainable habits such as recycling, composting and the reuse of coffee grounds and other produce.
By recycling content, which means sustainably removing waste for reuse, or re-claiming and re-using materials in your kitchen, you can help fortify the goal of sustainability.
Healthy habits like composting food scraps, whilst simple to initiate, can be beneficial for a number of reasons. Not only does it make creative use of your garden, but reusing waste can help limit harmful footprints on the natural world, by reducing the influence of chemicals and pollution.
3. Make Use of Eco-Friendly Kitchen Appliances
Energy-efficient upgrades to kitchen appliances are revolutionising the kitchen. From countertop to larger ‘white’ appliances, these changes in efficiency are notably using less energy to keep everything powered.
But before you upgrade, consider trading-in your old appliances so that they can be properly disposed of. Certain companies will have trade-in programs, which will allow you to exchange old parts for new.
When committing to a new eco-friendly kitchen appliance, research products that are energy efficient, such as refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers, blenders, microwaves, and more. For example, a smaller, eco fridge will use less electricity and often stay cold more consistently, thereby saving your produce (such as fruit) for longer.
4. Style your Kitchen with Houseplants
When it comes to transforming your kitchen into a sustainable space, try incorporating houseplants into its design. More than just your typical stylish prop, houseplants are environmentally friendly, and help to limit your carbon footprint and purify the air by reducing pollutants. Not only this, but they can also enhance the mood and natural aesthetic of your kitchen.
From succulents and indoors trees to herbs and miniature cacti, houseplants can bring the tranquillity of nature into your kitchen, along with the smells and resources of it too. Depending on your goals, you can even grow plants to use as ingredients in your meals.
5. Reduce and Avoid Plastics
The reliance on, and availability of, single-use plastics in our own households is certainly problematic. Whether it’s cling-film for leftovers or disposable packaging from food, plastics are harmful to the environment and too often seem unnecessary. This is especially true when you recognise there are so many good alternatives out there.
Instead of single use plastic, consider using natural solutions for packaging, storing and carrying food items, such as bamboo containers, brown bags, or hard-wearing canvas bags made from natural fibres. Where possible, opt for biodegradable solutions, or those made from recycled goods, as it promotes and encourages a more natural, healthy lifestyle. It’s also more cost-effective for a household to recycle and supports goals of sustainability.
Although we personalise each of our kitchen designs to you, we believe these ideas will materialise in our customers’ desires. If you’re interested in getting a newly renovated kitchen get in touch today.