Food is responsible for at least two-thirds of every individual’s water consumption. Kitchens alone are the energy centers of homes, relying on wattage to cook meals, keep ingredients fresh and frozen, and maintain food safety and general cleanliness.  

You can take steps to a more energy-efficient home, including upgrading your current lighting system, investing in high-quality insulation, and relying on alternative energy. But maintaining a sustainable home (as well as an energy-efficient one) is an entirely different matter.

Sustainability is the practice of making conscious lifestyle decisions with the environment in mind. It means integrating habits within a home that promote greener, renewable living. A sustainable home leaves a tiny carbon and water footprint and is often a more cost-effective and long-lasting structure.

On your pathway to a more sustainable home, it is often easiest to begin in your home’s heart: the kitchen. Here are some things you can do to achieve a greener, sustainable center of your house.

1. 1. Start an In-House Compost System

Composting is the process of returning biodegradable food ingredients and supplies to the earth itself. Once fruit rinds, vegetable peelings, and eggshells are dispersed into the soil (and appropriately aerated), they will eventually disintegrate, flooding soil with nutrients.

It’s possible to compost more items than most people realize, including fish, paper, and even tissues. Other food products like animal bones and meat residue can often be recycled; animal bones, for example, are often ground up to create bone meal, a valuable component in some animal feed and plant fertilizers.

Many people are content to just toss food scraps. However, when leftovers are simply binned in a large plastic bag with other waste and thrown into a landfill, they biodegrade at a far slower rate. Landfill food scraps receive inadequate oxygen to decompose and thus release copious amounts of methane gas, one of several greenhouse gases associated with global warming.

Begin an in-house composting system to harness the nutritive, regenerative power of food scraps and do your part to prevent global warming. Purchase a composting bucket to place next to your kitchen sink and simply empty scraps in a designated area in your backyard. Other homeowners opt for composting systems, which often consist of plastic rotating barrels.

1. 2. Recycle, Recycle, Recycle

I am always appalled at the number of people who simply do not recycle, even when recycling requires no more effort than taking out the trash. Given the fact that the kitchen is most responsible for our generation of waste, it is essential to recycle if you aim to maintain a greener kitchen.

Sign up for your city or county recycling service and be clear about what you can and cannot recycle through this provider. Seek out other options for items companies won’t recycle, such as plastic bags or glass. If you cannot afford such a service, identify your local recycling center and collect recyclables yourself. Set up an easy recycling system in your kitchen, mudroom, or garage. Create separate bins for different materials and label these for ease of use.

Remember that you can compost paper and some forms of cardboard. Ziploc bags and plastic wrapping can also be recycled at locations that process plastic bags.

1. 3. Monitor Appliance Usage

Appliances are fundamental to nearly every modern kitchen, but they can eat up a lot of energy. When not in use, keep appliances unplugged.

If it’s time for an appliance upgrade, opt for models that are energy-efficient and/or more compact than standard models. Look for appliances labeled with an Energy Star, an official designation that promotes energy-conscious products.

Eliminate any appliances you simply do not need. If you aren’t big on toast, ditch the toaster. The same goes for other superfluous kitchen utensils and tools that may end up in your cupboards or crowding your countertops.

1. 4. Integrate More Plant-Based Meals

Plant-based meals often generate leftovers that can be fully composted. Because they rely largely on produce and other ingredients available for purchase without packaging, they also generate zero waste.

Fill your week with more plant-based meals, choosing ingredients with recyclable packaging and using reusable grocery bags to buy produce. If you find yourself craving meat protein, plan for a few fish-based meals, as fish can be composted along with produce scraps.

Plant-based meals also have a smaller water footprint than meat-based meals. Think about it for a moment. What takes more water to produce? A tomato, or a pound of beef?

You may also find that plant-based meals are more cost-effective than other meals. When paired with other steps toward energy efficiency, plant-based nutrition may just be the key to keeping your energy and grocery bills minimal.

1. 5. Be Waste Conscious

Once again, the kitchen is the ultimate center of waste generation. Yet it doesn’t have to be, particularly if you are taking steps to embrace a greener kitchen.

Choosing sustainable kitchen habits is a lot like getting a tattoo: to truly be effective, you must commit to these habits so that they eventually become permanent. Sustainability is not a casual affair.

Composting and recycling can dramatically cut down on kitchen waste. But what about the other waste that ends up in those drawstring plastic bags (and the landfill)? Common waste outside of food scraps and packaging include meat, Styrofoam, wrappers, Ziplocs, plastic bags, coffee cups, vacuum contents, paper towels, napkins, and more.

Start to think about ways that you can reduce the leftover waste in your kitchen. Replace paper towels and napkins with cloth rags and sponges. Compost vacuum contents. Recycle plastic bags and Ziplocs. Avoid purchasing products with Styrofoam. Bring your own coffee cup to your favorite café.

Once you get in the mindset of trading waste for more sustainable options, you’ll start to see your greener kitchen take shape.

1. 6. Moderate Your Water Use

We are currently undergoing a global water crisis that gets more urgent every day. The good news is that you can respond to this crisis from the comfort of your home.

Plant-based nutrition automatically leaves a lower water footprint. But what about other kitchen habits that require water?

Washing dishes by hand takes five times as much water as a dishwasher to clean dishes effectively. While dishwashers can be costly, the investment is worth it given the impact on the earth.

Avoid leaking or dripping faucets by regularly inspecting plumbing. Turn off faucets when not in use. Try not to use garbage disposals, as these can have an environmental impact three times of that of tossing waste into a landfill.

A green kitchen is a conscious one. In many ways, it is often a more cost-effective kitchen. What are you doing to make your home more sustainable? I’d love to hear!