photo by sporkist
What makes a green kitchen? Recycled glass countertops? FSC certified wood cabinets? These are great materials to put in your kitchen. But are there ways we could use our kitchens that would make a difference too?
Recycling and beyond
The most common earth-friendly activity in a kitchen is recycling. So a green kitchen should make this easy. Pull-out bins can be included for each category picked up. A good location for them is right next to the trash container, and hidden in a cabinet.
A less common way to reuse materials is composting. Typically only avid gardeners who don’t mind a bit of messiness do composting. Hopefully in the near future composting will become as normal, and as easy, as recycling bottles and cans.
Right in the kitchen
Actually, there are already products for composting right in the kitchen. For example, NatureMill makes a composting device that speeds up the process. It has a motor, heat, fan, and air filter. It can go inside a cabinet. And it doesn’t stink—if you follow the directions carefully.
Another approach makes some folks a bit squirmy. Have you heard of worm composting? Special red worms can turn food scraps into compost. With the proper bins they easy to contain, though not everyone would want to see them. And, yes, this can be done quite successfully right in your kitchen!
Ready to start?
Using electricity to compost is not ideal, unless you run it off your own solar panels. And dealing with worms is beyond many of us. But if you want to compost, and you don’t have a yard or just want to use kitchen scraps, there are options.
Do you compost? I have to admit I don’t. I’m not a yard guy. Maybe I’ll look into indoor worm bins. Maybe.