The Eco Friendly Kitch Cook.

I really like the idea of running an eco-and-ethically friendly kitchen. I recently picked up Richard Erhlich's book 'The Green Kitchen' and was pleasantly surpised at many of his ideas which are very practical. AS constientious as I am I don't intend on growing dreadlocks and eating locusts for dinner. So I thought I might have a weekly post on a few easy tips for a greener kitchen. Really its a matter of minor inconvenience and altering your routine. I'm going to try to master two changes every week and slowly make them part of my kitchen behaviour.

Two changes to make this week
1. Buy a good set of plastic boxes and use them for things you might otherwise store in squares of clingfilm or aluminium foil. Make sure you buy boxes that are airtight so you will maintain the freshness of using clingfilm or foil. Use the boxes for everything from freezing excess (more on excess cooking another time), to refrigerating scraps (for example if you cut up too much veg for a stir fry they will keep for up to a week in the fridge). Smaller boxes are probably better so you won't have to wrap things in clingfilm to separate them, e.g. put a sandwich and a piece of cake in two small boxes rather than one.

2. I think the poor kettle in our house never gets a break. According to the Energy Saving Trust (Ehrlich) 'If everyone boiled only the water they needed... we could save enough electricity in a year to power the UK's street lights for seven months.' Hmmh.... brings back guiltily the time you filled the kettle to the brim for that one cuppa 'just incase'. Ehrlich suggets using a cup to measure your water (with a little over to bring the water above minimum, no explosions please) and using the surplus of the kettle to wash or clean. He also points out that if you put the kettle on and leave the room (e.g. to see what's on the TV - guilty as charged) you will have to re-boil it when you come back in, thus using excess energy.