The Importance of a Sustainable Kitchen
Reimagining your kitchen as a sustainable place is an important aspect of green living and reducing your impact on the environment. The kitchen plays an integral role in any household, but it is also the room that has the most profound impact on the global ecosystem. For example, in American households, cooking alone utilizes as much as 690 million GJ of energy in a year [http://www.fraw.org.uk/data/simplicity/hager_2013.pdf]! As a result, making any eco-friendly adjustments in the kitchen goes a long way in bringing a positive change.
But It Has Its Challenges…
Living a sustainable, planet-conscious life is important, but putting it into practice can be a hassle – especially when it comes to the kitchen. There are already so many tasks related to making your kitchen environment-friendly: like grocery shopping for healthy ingredients, using an energy-efficient heat source, segregating compostable food waste, and choosing supplies that do not leave non-renewable waste.
This may involve throwing away plastic packaging like plastic wrap, plastic bags, plastic containers, plastic bottles, aluminum foil, etc. They can instead be replaced with recyclable packaging and storage like reusable cleaning cloths made from organic cotton, reusable food bags, glass storage containers or stainless-steel containers… basically, making the whole kitchen plastic free.
All these changes are important, though these may take time and effort to implement. However, many overlook how a simple change can hugely impact the energy consumption of a household. It is not too much hassle, either! Keep reading to learn more.
Start by Choosing Sustainable Cookware
Conventional cookware made from metals or ceramics cause environmental damage in various ways. For example, the metal industry alone accounts for 12% of global industrial sector energy use. From releasing pollutants during making to leaving loads of non-biodegradable waste, these disrupt the ecosystem at every stage (read how). There can be strides taken to reduce the amount of energy consumed during cooking, but that might prolong cooking, doubling or even tripling the time. Instead, a new alternative altogether would be to choose a more energy-efficient cookware like MEC.
Miriam’s Earthen Cookware (MEC) is a US-based company that makes pots and pans from lab tested primary clay without chemicals or additives. Their raw material is fully renewable, the manufacturing process releases no pollutants or contaminants, this cookware is shipped carbon neutral, and these pots and pans are also green while in use (more on that below). This is what we can call sustainable cookware through and through.
How is MEC Green in Use?
MEC saves energy by cooking with earthen far-infrared heat. This unique heat penetrates deep into food, thereby, cooking it thoroughly in less time. The unique heat retention of pure, primary clay also means that you can cook food passively for a sizable amount of the cooking process. On top of that, MEC doesn’t need toxic coatings like PTFE and PFOA that may release toxic fumes when heated (like Teflon pans). It becomes naturally non-stick after a few uses as it is fully seasoned.
Moreover, at the end of their useful lifecycle, they can be reused in diverse ways (learn more), and even after that, they are fully compostable. They come from the earth and go back to it after sharing their goodness and health value for years.
Choosing MEC takes a large leap in creating a sustainable household, which is why making this small change can get a lot done for your quest towards sustainable living. Looking to hit refresh on your kitchen and turn it green this new year? Head over to MEC’s online store and get your eco-friendly cookware today!
PEOPLE ALSO ASK
What are the most environmentally friendly food containers?
Biodegradable food containers are the most eco-friendly for food storage. Some good examples are containers made from corn starch, cardboard, and paper. It is also worth paying attention to the fact that these should be made from non-toxic materials with no chemicals, because storing warm food in such materials may cause them to leach toxins and contaminate food.
Why Choose Healthy Cookware? 