It’s six o’clock, you’re tired, you get in the door and dump your groceries on the kitchen bench. The last thing on your mind is saving the planet. However, the classic art of culinary cuisine, eco-style is not all that hard to achieve. Be the next Martha Stewart or Jamie Oliver and impress your guests or just give yourself that feel good feeling by making your supper sustainably.

Your kitchen can be the most used room in the house, with most families congregating around the table at meal times. People like me can always be found aimlessly looking through cupboards and hanging around hoping somebody will put something delicious in front of me. But all that constant opening and closing of refrigerators and freezers for chilled o-j and Popsicles can consume a whole heap of energy. Investing in appliances that consume less energy will save you plenty of money in the long run, especially if you take into account the fact that kitchen white goods account for the majority of your energy consumption.

Appliances that display energy rating labels are the ones to invest in, as most offer a rebate for purchasing a greener alternative. Opt for appliances that suit your needs, don’t buy a massive freezer if you will never fill it, similarly don’t buy a microwave if you never eat at home. Little facts like knowing that boiling your kettle once consumes the same amount of electricity as lighting your whole house for a week are good incentives to crack down on your power usage. Purchase your kitchen gadgets knowing their energy ratings and be smart about what you are getting for your dollar. A fantastic example of a green gadget is the old pressure cooker. Resurrected from Grandma’s, it cooks food 70% faster than conventional cooking and this speed cooking ensures more minerals and vitamins are retained. If you select your appliances carefully you can easily reduce your environmental impact without compromising your cheesecake centerpiece.

Organic food is on the up. Finding local suppliers of fresh produce is no longer that difficult and prices of organic foods are slowly decreasing. This means it no longer costs so much to stay green and support your local organic farmers. Whether you grow your own or walk to the market to get your fruit and veg, organic food tastes better and has been proven to be a much healthier option for your table. With a higher vitamin and mineral content and no pesticides, herbicides or fungicide residue on your food, somehow your boring ordinary salad suddenly seems more appetizing. Conventional farmers work against the soil and it’s organisms, adding chemicals like sulfur, calcium, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in an attempt to grow more produce. Organic farmers use natural alternatives to produce better crops. Adding compost, rock dust and kelp meal they attempt to increase the number of beneficial soil organisms and make the soil as rich in nutrients as possible, naturally. In a report published in 1999 by the Consumers Union, a study on hazardous toxins found on produce stated that some non-organic produce, ‘contains toxic pesticide levels high enough to be dangerous for young children.’ Surprisingly, strawberries, bell peppers and spinach were the top three most contaminated foods at the grocers, the Environmental Working Group also found cherries and peaches had high levels of toxicity as well. So no big surprise about the big change over to organic produce, no hormones, no toxins and no cancer causing chemicals.

Lastly don’t forget to re-use and recycle everything that comes through your green kitchen. Packaging can be easily sorted if you have a few bins handy, for plastics, glass and paper. It’s easy recycling for dummies and environmentally aware chefs. Adding all your scraps to the compost means no waste, and no rotting food in landfills. If you love the juice for your garden, get yourself some worms. A worm filled compost produces the best liquid fertilizer you can get and it’s absolutely free, fueled by your scraps. Get them in the handy tap variety from any local hardware and garden store.

Imagine amazing your dinner guests with the knowledge you grew and then prepared a meal practically from scratch, all in the interest of saving the planet. Your friends will be green with envy. Just make sure they completely fill the dishwasher before washing. Oh and let the dishes dry naturally because more energy is used in the drying process than the actual washing. But you already knew that, right Martha?