Do you have room to grow or are you the reigning royalty?
How green is your kitchen routine really? Sure, you recycle some things, and you work on cutting down your electric bill. But is there more that you can do, without having to go overboard? That's what we're tackling this week with a quick true or false quiz. We'll take a look at different things in your kitchen and what you can do to start making a change in your home.
True or False: Cooking isn't somewhere you can conserve energy.
Surprisingly enough, this is false. There's actually a couple of different ways that you can tackle this one. You can start by just not opening your oven while you're cooking or baking. Just like with your fridge, every time the oven door is opened it needs to bring the oven back up to temperature, which means more electricity used. You can also look at reorganizing how you cook your meals. Using an instant pot or making one-pot meals both go a long way towards reducing the amount of energy you're using without being too time-consuming. You've also got batch cooking. By that we mean that you'd do most of your cooking just one or two days during the week. You'd organize your meals for the week so that you used similar components several times, in different ways, you're cutting down on both energy used, grocery money and saving yourself time.
True or False: I know what cleaners I can make at home, and which I need to purchase.
This one is as much about being green as it is about being safe. Some cleaners you can make at home, like everyone's favorite mix of vinegar, water and dish soap. Others, like CLR aren't something you want to try mixing, no matter what internet recipes say. Remember, chlorine is not something you should EVER be mixing with other chemicals.
True or False: My refrigerator is performing at optimal cool.
This is one we've talked about in the past for cutting down on your electric bill. You can help your fridge run its best, by keeping the coils free from dust, and by leaving enough room for air to circulate in the fridge. So, don't stuff the fridge to the maximum is what we're saying. By packing everything in there, your fridge can’t breathe and needs to work twice as hard to cool everything down.
True or False: I let my dishwasher handle the heavy work.
You've heard it before, but letting your dishwasher run without it being full just wastes your water. If you make sure to run it at night during non-peak hours, and that it's fully loaded, you'd be surprised by how much you can cut back your water and electricity usage. According to Energy Star, you actually save 75% on your water and energy bills compared to washing by hand or running the dishwasher when it's not full.
True or False: I know all about reusable containers.
You have your standard plastic containers, we all know those. But there are other options these days that might be more versatile to your needs. You can get beeswax reusable wraps, instead of using plastic wrap. Or you can get silicone pouches to replace using ziploc bags. You can also choose to replace your existing plastic containers for something like stainless steel or glass. You can even be really smart and use all of the glass canning jars from different crafts you meant to do off Pinterest.
True or False: If I buy it, I'm going to find a way to reuse it.
Speaking of Pinterest, have you ever noticed how many different ideas there are for how to reuse things? You have so many options ranging from containers made from coffee creamers to using soda bottles to make ropes.
True or False: A leaky faucet isn't that big of a deal.
Nope. Your blogger thought this wasn't that big of an issue either, and was summarily trounced by her next water bill. A faucet that leaks at 1 drop per second can add up to more than 1500 gallons of water per year. Which means the water isn't being utilized, and it's also costing you.
So how did you rank? Did you learn anything new or are you the green kitchen queen or king? Let us know in the comments below or over on our Facebook page, we'd love to hear from you. We'd also love to hear any other suggestions you might have on how to green up other areas of your home.
While we did talk quite a bit about cutting back on your electric and water bills, there's something else that you can do to help. By calling in for regular maintenance for your appliances, you also help cut back on those bills. After all, a machine that isn't running properly isn't going to be using energy efficiently. Whether you want us to take a look and give you tips, or you have something you need fixed, we're here. We want to be the best in appliance repair for Frisco and that means doing our best by you, our patrons. You can reach out to us via our website or by calling us at ((214) 599-0055).
