Jump to:
With Christmas just around the corner, the savvy interior design enthusiasts amongst you will have asked Santa for some key pieces of kitchen accessories and equipment to start you off on your new kitchen design journey.
Thankfully, and frankly, not before time, more and more newlywed couples, older people, and large families alike are finally realizing that human beings’ activities and methods of living are having an incredibly devastating effect on the environment and the earth’s atmosphere.
With that being said, continue reading to discover how to design the perfect eco-friendly kitchen for you and your home.
Choose Sustainable Materials for Your Surfaces
Contrary to popular belief, more luxurious and long-lasting sustainable worktops, fixtures and fittings, and kitchen splashbacks are considerably more affordable than you might think.
The key to eco-friendly surfaces is to invest in responsibly-sourced wooden pieces or a beautiful, smooth, and natural slab of granite. Sustainable materials are simultaneously incredibly durable and aesthetically stunning, and there could be no better choice for your kitchen worktops and other functional surfaces.
Install Energy Efficient Lighting
Traditional and some would argue, decidedly old-fashioned, halogen light bulbs and bright, incandescent lighting are some of the biggest reasons why a single home is as non-energy efficient as the results and readings prove.
Instead, when designing your new eco-friendly kitchen, switch out all your old lightbulbs and replace them with new, energy-efficient alternatives.
There are a wide plethora of fabulous advantages to the change, including the fact that such bulbs use considerably less energy and are therefore cheaper and that energy-efficient lightbulbs last considerably longer than their traditional counterparts.
Choose Kitchen Décor Items Made from Recycled Materials
These days, there are a host of products, home décor items, and even furnishings that are made using entirely recycled materials that the average shopper wouldn’t even notice.
There is literally an endless stream of products that are made from wholly recycled materials that would look incredible in your new, eco-friendly kitchen and serve to improve the overall aesthetic appearance.
When you think of eco-friendly, you probably think of fabric or paper towels that may also be responsible for deforestation and damage to the natural environment. However, bamboo kitchen towel is a sustainable alternative to cloth or paper towels because it can grow without any damage to nature.
Rather than cutting down a natural habitat when trying to make your own cloth version of those kitchen towels, wood clothespins can replace them. Clothespinned clothes hanger can be made from reeds and twigs available in abundance and they can easily be integrated into a new diaper pail or some other household item.
Such products include, but are certainly not limited to:
- Soaps and washing utensils
- Recycled plastics
- Repurposed glass
- Aluminum cutlery and knife sets
- Kitchen floor laminate
- Trash bins and bags
- Tea towels and oven gloves
Cooking in Your Kitchen
Once the interior design elements and aesthetic appearance of your new, eco-friendly kitchen area are exactly how you would like them, why not experiment with healthier diets and foodstuffs, which also lowers your carbon footprint even further.
One of the easiest ways to do this is to begin to follow a vegan-based diet, as veganism promotes eco-friendly living to the maximum.
If you require inspiration on where to begin or, moreover, you fancy treating yourself and your family to a delicious and healthy meal, research the wide variety of vegan restaurants Portland has to offer.
Vegan food is always ethically sourced and, during its production, is created using as little energy or resources as possible. Take back inspiration to your own kitchen and cooking.
Final Thoughts
Although your kitchen is now ideal for cooking, don’t be afraid to indulge in a treat out once in a while.
