Eco Friendly Kitchens And Recycling

A well-designed, attractive kitchen becomes the heart and soul of a home.

However, with the consequential use of l ighting, refrigeration and cooking it can become responsible for over 40 percent of a home's energy consumption. Add to that regular kitchen activities like water heating, plus general heating and cooling, and you begin to get the picture of how energy critical the kitchen really is.

Consideration could be made in the planning and design stage of a kitchen refurbishment project to improve t he home's energy performance. Broadening the scope of your project to include energy efficiency, ecological benefits, accessibility and health considerations will provide long -term cost savings, comfort, peace of mind and safety.

Here are some high-impact ideas for creating a "green" kitchen:

• Kitchen Recycling Centre
  Look for sets of bins that allow you to easily separate rubbish - paper, food, bottles, plastics, etc; that can be disposed of or recycled in different ways.



• Eco-Friendly Flooring
  Products manufactured from renewable forests can provide you with a beautiful, affordable and durable floor - and an environmentally responsible choice. Bamboo, cork, and eucalyptus mature in roughly half the time (or less) that it takes hardwoods, grown in colder climates, to reach market size. A bamboo area rug is a great idea.



• Stained Concrete or Indigenous Stone Countertops
  Use materials that are durable and water -resistant for both worktops and backsplashes. Stained concrete uses non -toxic, natural pigments rather than surface-applied stains. There is also the option of adding other recycled materials into the mixture. Many types of indigenous stone are available and can come from salvage sources. Make sure they are adequately sealed to prevent staining.



• Wall Insulation Nothing improves the comfort and energy efficiency of a kitchen more than plenty of insulation in the exterior walls. To add insulation to existing homes, blow fibrous insulation material - fibreglass or natural materials like cellulose and mineral wool - into enclosed wall, floor and roof cavities. "Dense packing" the insulation inhibits air circulation within the cavities, thereby eliminating a major cause of condensation, moisture problems and air leakage.



• Energy-Efficient Windows, Doors and Skylights Well-designed windows and skylights can lighten the feel of a kitchen and save on fuel bills as well. Ensure the products used have low heat emission glass with solar shading, which increases the room's comfort, protects items from sun damage and reduces condensation on windo ws.


• Energy-Efficient Task Lighting and Lighting Controls Maximise natural light and provide task lighting. Lighting controls range from a simple outdoor light fixture with a built -in photo-sensor to wholeof- house programmable controls that allow fixture s to perform as task, safety or mood lighting. The cost of a control can often be offset by the first year's energy savings.



• Energy-Efficient Appliances When buying a refrigerator, dishwasher or vent fan for your kitchen renovation, remember that it wil l have two labels: the price ticket and the Energy Rating of the appliance. Advanced technology now means that appliances can use 10 to 50 percent less energy and water than standard models.



• Mould-Resistant Gypsum or Cement Board Mould growth requires moisture and a food source. To improve moisture resistance, some gypsum board manufacturers have developed products with paperless coatings and gypsum cores. To reduce the risk of mould, a number of manufacturers chemically treat the paper on both sides of t he gypsum board, while others eliminate the paper entirely and replace it with a gypsum-cellulose combination. Mould-resistant wall panels help maintain good indoor air quality while reducing the probability of costly replacement or remediation.



• Induction Hobs Induction cooking uses electricity to produce a magnetic field that reacts with the ferric content in stainless steel, cast iron, and enamelled steel cookware, exciting the molecules and producing heat. The cookware (and therefore the food) gets hot , but the stovetop doesn't. Less heat is wasted and the food heats faster, saving time and energy. Induction cooking is about 90 percent energy efficient as compared to gas and electric radiant, which are 50 to 60 percent efficient. Induction cooking is re latively new to the mass marketplace and currently retails at a premium.