Ideas for an eco-friendly kitchen

"Do you know why I love cooking?"
"No, why?"
"I love that after a day when nothing is sure, and when I say 'nothing' I mean nothing, you can come home and absolutely know that if you add egg yolks to chocolate and sugar and milk, it will get thick. It's such a comfort. "

(Julie Powell- author of "Julie and Julia)

The kitchen is one of the most loved spaces in the house and at the same time the most underestimated room in the management of a sustainable home, the place where people waste more

Here we give you some practical suggestions to live your kitchen in a greener way.

The mummies and the song of the Sirens

We have all heard of it, we have all fallen into temptation at least once, the unmissable 2x1 offers are like the enchanting song of the Sirens: the unstoppable impulse that drives you to purchase  industrial quantities of products , only to abandon them to their sad and lonely destiny of mummification at the bottom of the fridge.
Every Italian throws in the garbage about 65 Kg. of food every year.
6 billion and 403 million Euros of domestic food waste , driven by super-offers that promise super-savings, but are in fact only super-waste.

The secrets of a zero-waste shopping

Impulse buying is the first source of waste.
Advertisers who offer emotional commercials and visual merchandisers know this well as they expertly distribute along the purchase path the products that tickle your senses as a serial consumer and push you “where you would never have dared”.

Tricks to not get distracted

With small tricks it is easy not to be distracted and to buy only what you need:

• weekly draw up the shopping list according to your real needs
• divide the list of products according to the purchase path:
  according to the shops where you buy them
  and following the order of the aisles where they are placed
• shop when you are not hungry in order to avoid to be seduced by the scents and calls of the food expertly arranged along the aisles.

Eco-friendly tricks

In addition to the tricks to avoid being distracted, there are other eco-friendly solutions for your zero waste shopping:

• check the products expiration and choose them based on when you have planned to consume them
• use reusable shopping bags : even if the bags you find in stores are now all biodegradable, why wasting them?
• prefer bulk products, so you can choose only the quantities you need
• if you buy packaged products, prefer eco-friendly packaging.

Things aren't what they ysed to be: but the seasons are still there!

Prefer seasonal  fruit and vegetables for your table because:

• They have better nutritional properties
• They follow a natural ripening which requires fewer additives to grow
• They are less expensive

If you combine this with a responsible purchase , perhaps of farm to table products, on one hand you support local economy and on the other you decrease pollution caused by transport.

Choose organic

Choosing organic is a form of respect for oneself and for the planet.
But how can you make sure that a product is truly organic?
Do not be distracted by false information: truly organic products are certified by official bodies and carry the European logo for organic food , the leaf on the green background.
Organic means that the products have been checked throughout the supply chain:

• in fruit and vegetables the water used, the soil in which it grows and the product itself are checked before being placed on the market
• in farms the first criterion is respect for the species: at least 95% of the feed must come from organic farming and the farms respect the physiology of the animal, without assisted fertilization and hormonal control

Zero waste from the table to the garden

Kitchen leftovers are an excellent resource for the home.
Turn food scraps into compost to fertilize the plants in your garden or your metropolitan garden.
Municipalities and most waste collection companies have dedicated counters that can provide you with compost containers.

The solution of Phoenicians

One of the best materials for food storing comes from the Phoenicians: glass.
Versatile and safe for health, together with steel is one of the most recommended container materials in the kitchen:

• does not release harmful substances
• you can store both hot and cold dishes
• you can reuse it over and over again
• is the perfect material for the eco-friendly lunch box at work or for your picnics in the countryside

In cold blood

In any self-respecting eco-friendly kitchen, keeping the cooling autonomy of the refrigerator and freezer in good condition helps you save energy and lengthens the life of household appliances.

How to keep the fridge and freezer in good health?

• fridge and freezer must be installed at at least 10 centimeters from the walls , away from other obstructions and appliances in order to let them breathe to allow the cooling coils to avoid beeing always working 
• place them at a distance from hob and oven: heat consumes much more energy to reach cooling and sometimes risks causing them to crash
• do not put freshly cooked foods immediately in the refrigerator or freezer, but let them cool to room temperature .
• calibrate the refigerator internal temperature differentiating winter from summer
• keep clean the condensation drainage hole of the fridge: the water cools the compressor and keeps it efficient

Cooking is a love story

The kitchen is the place of love par excellence, the place to share your creativity  with family and friends.
The kitchen is the place where you indulge in a cuddle when you return from a long day at work.
The kitchen is the place of love par excellence and, if you have followed us this far, now you have all the tools to transform your kitchen too in a symbol of love for the environment.
And now?
Now you just have to open your pantry and give free rein to your imagination, no matter if you are an experienced chef or beginner, the important thing is to do it with love.

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