Appliance audit

The kitchen contains two of the most energy guzzling appliances in the house: the fridge followed by the oven. Unfortunately on both counts, energy savings made on the increased use of A graded energy efficient products have been countered by the rise of the status appliance such as the gargantuan US style fridge and massive six ringed hobbed, all of which are typically of an E-G rating (you know you have a problem when your fridge is bigger than your spare room).

So avoid status appliances, and buy on energy ratings. If your fridge is over ten years old it’s time to replace. An old fridge uses around 2000 watts of power a year, whereas a new, energy efficient model requires just 500 watts to sustain it. If you can’t afford a new model, invest in a sava plug (www.savawatt.co.uk). These regulate the flow of energy to the appliance – in the eco world stable flow equals reduced emissions – but aren’t necessary on new models where this is done automatically.

You can also employ some straightforward strategies to make sure your fridge and freezer are working to optimum efficiency. Fridges should be 20cm away from the wall (often they are pushed flush against it), allowing the cooling coils to do their job, and these should be kept clean. Freezers need to be packed tightly and for both freezers and fridges, keep the door closed as much as possible. I hate to generalize but teenage boys are particularly bad at standing with the fridge door wide open while they survey the contents. Naturally, every time the fridge door is opened it requires extra power to cool it down to the optimum temperature afterwards.

A clean oven is an efficient one (it’s also safer as less likely to go on fire) and self cleaning ovens tend to be more energy efficient because they are so well insulated. Multi-tasking is a big plus for the eco cook. Using Chinese steamers for example, which cook on different layers saves a lot of energy, as does matching the pan size to the ring. This sounds obvious, but so many of us use small pans on big rings – 40 per cent of the energy evaporates into the air.

Microwaves

Although still mistrusted thanks to a lot of rumours about radiation waves in the 1980s no adverse affects on human health have been proved, and they remain an extremely energy efficient way to cook. It’s a good idea to part cook in the microwave and finish off in the oven.

Kettles

Writer Bill Bryson once admitted to being astounded by the lengths British people go to procure a ‘hot beverage’. At home, our perpetual desire for a nice cuppa transposes into kettles that are frequently on the boil. Unfortunately, most of them are boiling several more cups of water than required which means huge amounts of wasted power. The Eco Kettle (www.nigelsecostore.com) is a simple yet smart invention. There are two clearly visible chambers: one you fill up from the tap and becomes a water holding chamber, when you require a cup of tea, just press a button on the top of the kettle and the amount needed for one cup will transfer into the other chamber, which is then boiled. The whole device ensures you only boil as much water as you are going to use.

Dishwashers

Toeing the eco line has a reputation for being arduous but that’s not necessarily the case. A comprehensive study by the University of Bonn concluded that dishwashers (as long as fully stacked and used on an eco efficient cycle) saved between three and four times the amount of water used when washing by hand, and a substantial amount of energy. To earn even more easy brownie (or greenie) points switch off the drying part of your dishwasher’s cycle, and leave the drawer open to dry by air.

Frying pans

I hate non stick frying pans and instead I’ve recycled cast iron bottomed pans, liberated from the back’s of grandparents and auties’ cupboards. Frying pans coated in Teflon or another non stick guards, are problematic in my opinion because recent research confirms they release toxic vapours at much lower temperatures than previously thought. In addition manufacturing with these chemicals releases persistent chemicals into the atmosphere. Traces of Teflon have been found to bioaccumulate in polar bears for example showing just how far these pollutants can travel – the odds of polar bears having participated in a fry up are rather slim!

Storage jars and wrap

I’m similarly unimpressed by clingfilm. There are rumours of molecular instability, transferring plasticizers into food, but mainly for me it’s a waste issue. Clingfilm is polluting to make and generally just used once. I prefer to use the robust, stretchy lids I’ve found from www.naturalcollection.com that provide a seal over bowls for leftovers and can be used time and time again.

Recycled

Recycling is all about closing the loop ie if you recycle materials you should also buy recycled products to complete a virtuous eco circle and provide a market. We really could use a lot more recycled products in the kitchen. From coffee filters to recycled aluminium foil there are plenty of opportunities.

Good wood

In my own kitchen, I’m really strict about wood products. The UK remains the biggest European importer of illegal hardwoods. This is market driven. As consumers we may be unwittingly consuming products made from precious virgin forest, but we are not asking enough questions. You can get cooking utensils from FSC (forestry Stewardship Commission) forest and woodland from Fresh & Wild stores. Many cooks can’t do without kitchen roll – although it’s not a particularly sustainable idea. If you’re one of them, buy recycled (from www.suma.co.uk) and where possible buy in bulk. It cuts down on packaging – that really goes for everything non perishable from washing up liquid to rice.

Water issues

Following a summer of hosepipe bans, we’re starting to get our heads around the need to conserve water and treat it as a precious resource. In fact there was a nationwide shortage of water butts for gardens earlier this summer. However, for some reason this consciousness hasn’t yet transferred to the kitchen. A tiny water monitor, currently a prototype by design agency, Priestman Goode, just might be the kitchen water measure of the future. It sticks on your kitchen tap and tells you in litres and via a glugging sound generated by the vibrations of the tap, how much water you’re using. Those who don’t like tap water – almost always a better bet than energy intensive bottled water transported hundreds of miles – should invest in a Brita water filter jug. Brita takes the cartridges back and recycles them at a plant in Germany.

Waste not want not

In the UK we generate an astonishing amount of food waste, substantially more than our European neighbours. Try to avoid BOGOF (by one get one free) offers from supermarkets, which could more accurately be labeled as ‘by one throw one in the bin’. Some £420 worth of food per person per year is thrown away (a further £470 goes on packaging). Sixty per cent of the food in our bin is food waste that could be composted rather than joining the ten million tones of household waste that goes to landfill every year where it rots to form methane (a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than CO2). We’re also missing a trick; each year the UK’s soil becomes increasingly depleted of essential nutrients, nutrients that could be provided by composted organic waste. You can take matters into your own hands by investing in a small, kitchen friendly bokashi bin (www.livingsoil.co.uk). Technically it’s more of a fermentation system than composter, but the bin will sit unobtrusively under a worktop as you fill it with scraps and add bran to make a rich mix that can be dug into flower beds, baskets and window boxes. There’s also a tap to drain off the fermented liquid which can then be used as an ecologically benign drain cleaner, or watered down as a plant food.

Cleaning

On the subject of drain cleaners and cleaning agents in general, increasingly the kitchen is presented via advertising campaigns as a battle ground for bacteria only to be defeated with an arsenal of synthetic toxins. While it’s true that kitchens need to be kept clean, we are increasingly attempting to crack a nut with a sledge hammer, resulting in extremely harsh and polluting surfactants used on a massive scale (some can take hundreds of years to biodegrade), along with potentially toxic scents and phosphates. The same can be said of the rise of antibacterial infused kitchen equipment, especially chopping boards. I prefer to keep things chemically very simple – using detergents and cleaning agents from known, simple ingredients that do not take hundreds of years to degrade in our water systems. If you don’t fancy making your own from lemons, soda crystals and white wine vinegar try Ecover (www.ecover.com) the ecological cleaning company that also makes dishwasher tablets. Cedar wood contains natural antibacterial properties so makes very good chopping boards.