Ideally, a sustainable kitchen is one built with resilient non-petroleum-based materials (ie. from recycled wood and stone as opposed to melamine and plastic). Also, in its daily use, a sustainable kitchen uses safe, non-toxic, biodegradeable cleaning products. Let's look at each area with a view to providing you with kitchen ideas.
Look at kitchens in show homes or kitchen manufacturer displays to give you ideas on the capability of your own kitchen . Measure your kitchen and take those measurements and measuring tape with you. Compare the design and space in the show home with what you have to work inside your own home. You may think the actual layout is not that important until you try working in it. Optimising the space you have available will be one of the biggest challenges of the whole project.
What actual light is available. When renovating the kitchen is it feasible to put in a larger window to let additional light into the kitchen? If you do decide on this choice do you need to use double glazed glass to keep out heat and glare.
Acquire a kitchen cabinet maker who uses sustainable timber to manufacture his cabinet frames. When deciding upon what material to use for your bench tops there is a wide range of natural stones available that can be used for bench tops, attractive bricks for outward facing cupboard walls and other materials that meet sustainability goals What paint is being used to colour drawer and cupboard faces. There are now bio-paints on the market that are made from natural non-toxic materials and are definitely worth investigating further.
Choose appliances that have a high star energy rating and buy the right size appliance for your needs. For example, is your present refrigerator too big or too small? If you need a dish washer decide on one that cleans dishes efficiently but does so using nominal water and hence will use less energy to heat the water. Electric cook tops and ovens at this point do not have star energy ratings. In terms of a sustainable kitchen a gas cooker will give off less greenhouse gas emission than an electric cooker
Find energy efficient lights to put in in the kitchen as these significantly cut down energy consumption and cost. Compact fluorescent lights (CFL) are energy efficient and come in a variety of shapes and sizes. They can replace the old incandescent light globes including halogen down lights.
Turn kitchen garbage into environmentally friendly trash. Use one bin for food scraps that can be put on to a compost heap and the second bin for recyclables that can be collected each week with household .
I hope you have found this article informative and helpful in designing a sustainable kitchen in your home.
Author Resource:-
Pauline is the owner of HomeHandyWoman For full article go to Kitchen Design Homehandywoman is a site for women wishing to learn how to do their own repairs and maintenance around their home.
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