What Makes a Kitchen Green?

Strike! This breakfast counter was once a bowling lane. Architect: Sogno Design Group. Photo: Linda Svendsen for Good Green Kitchens.

There’s no single definition of a green, eco-friendly or sustainable kitchen. Rather, it can be helpful to think of green as a continuum that’s shaded from light to dark.
At the light green end are easy-to-do strategies such as choosing non-polluting paints, screwing in a few compact fluorescent lightbulbs and selecting energy-efficient appliances. Anyone can take these simpler steps.

At the darker green end are strategies such as only using wood that’s salvaged or certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), or getting your home’s net energy use as close to zero as possible. Dark green steps call for more effort, more money, or both.

Wherever you fall on the spectrum, there are myriad ways to go about greening your kitchen. Green design is quite simply an improvement on conventional practices — with an emphasis on energy efficiency, conserving natural resources and creating a healthy home.

These fundamentals apply to every type of kitchen: traditional, modern, country, eclectic — you name it.

So when it comes to your own kitchen, don’t feel like you have to imitate any particular look; you can have a dream green kitchen that expresses your unique spirit and sense of style.

© 2006 Jennifer Roberts. Originally published in Good Green News.

 

In Stores Now: Good Green Kitchens

I’m happy to announce the publication of my latest book, Good Green Kitchens: The Ultimate Resource for Creating a Beautiful, Healthy, Eco-Friendly Kitchen.

Good Green Kitchens reveals what’s green and what’s not when it comes to kitchen design. Whether you are planning a minor kitchen improvement project or a top-to-bottom remodel, you’ll find plenty of inspiration and information inside.

With more than 150 color photos and comprehensive text, Good Green Kitchens gives you what you need to know to create your dream green kitchen. It includes up-close profiles of beautiful, eco-friendly kitchens; resource lists of green products and retailers; in-depth chapters on greener alternatives for floors, cabinets, countertops and appliances; and much more.

Good Green Kitchens is available now from booksellers nationwide, directly from the publisher at gibbs-smith.com, and from online retailers.

Click here to read more about Good Green Kitchens.

Book event — 7/12/2006

You’re invited! Join me for a Good Green Kitchens book signing and talk about what makes kitchens green on July 12, 2006, 6:00p, at Pacific Energy Center, San Francisco, CA. Sponsored by Architects, Designers and Planners for Social Responsibility. Info: goodgreenhomes.com.

 

Small Is Beautiful: Design Tips for Smaller Kitchens That Really Work

A cabinet no wider than the doorway casing provides handy storage for spices. Design/construction: Leger Wanaselja Architecture. Photo: Linda Svendsen for Good Green Kitchens.

Whether you’re remodeling a kitchen or building a new house, keeping size in check is one of the savviest strategies for living more lightly on the planet.

The reasons are obvious: It takes more energy and natural resources to build, furnish, use and maintain larger spaces than smaller ones.

But having a smaller kitchen doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice style, comfort or convenience. In fact, compared to a sprawling showcase kitchen, a well-designed kitchen that’s not too big can be more enjoyable to cook in. It can also provide a more intimate atmosphere for relaxing and entertaining.

Here are tips for creating a kitchen that looks and works great yet isn’t too big:

Did you know?

Amount of water an average household will save per year by not pre-rinsing dishes before putting them in the dishwasher: 6,500 gallons

Increase in a refrigerator’s energy consumption if it has an ice-maker and through-the-door water/ice dispenser: 14 to 20%

The Healthy Kitchen

I’ll let you in on a secret. You can ignore all my advice about green building and still have a good green kitchen. What’s paramount is to use your kitchen to prepare delicious, healthy food and serve it with love.

At its core, the green-building movement is about taking care of ourselves, each other and the environment. When greening the kitchen, where better to start than with what we eat?

Architect: Actual-Size Architecture. Photo: Linda Svendsen for Good Green Kitchens.

There are many paths to eating well, of course. Grow some of your own food, if you have the desire and opportunity. Buy locally grown food at farmers markets or from community-supported agriculture groups.

Choose organically grown food; you’ll safeguard your health and that of farmworkers, and help keep pollutants out of the soil, air and waterways.

Eating lower on the food chain also eases the burden on our bodies and the environment.

As much as I’m an advocate for green building practices, if you can make only one change toward a greener kitchen, my advice is to pay attention to cooking and eating for a healthier body and a healthier planet.

Beyond eating well there are plenty of steps you can take to create a healthier kitchen. Here are a few suggestions:

Good Green Cooking: Mint Pesto with Walnuts

A refreshing change from basil pesto. Serves 4 to 6.

3 cups fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated; more for serving
1 lb. fusilli or farfalle (butterfly-shaped) pasta

Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Lightly toast walnuts in pan on stove or in tray in toaster oven until fragrant. Remove nuts from heat.

Add pasta to boiling water and cook until al dente. Meanwhile, combine mint, olive oil and grated parmesan in food processor to achieve consistency of a loose paste.

Reserve 1/2 cup of cooking water before draining pasta. Mix together the drained pasta, pesto and nuts. Add a little reserved hot water if pesto is too thick. Serve with extra grated cheese. Buon appetito!

Chill Out with an Energy-Saving Fridge

Apart from heating and air-conditioning, the kitchen accounts for the biggest chunk of a typical home’s energy use.

The refrigerator and freezer alone can gobble as much as 9 to 15% of your entire electricity bill. What can you do about that energy hog?

If your fridge is more than about twelve years old, consider replacing it with a new Energy Star–qualified model. Get details at energystar.gov.

Don’t keep your old fridge as a spare. Recycle it instead.

Keep in mind that supersized units use supersized amounts of electricity. If you replace an old fridge with a more efficient but larger-capacity model, your energy savings may be a wash.

Models with freezers on top use the least amount of energy. Bottom-freezer models use more energy. Side-by-side models use the most.

Getting a Green Life: Daylighting a Dark Old House

Kalwall + Nanogel skylight above a 19th-century stained glass window.

I live in an 1890s cottage that exudes offbeat charm, with quirky touches like plaster castings of rams’ and women’s heads mounted on fluted columns in the front hall.

Problem is, those details can be hard to see because the house is daylight deprived. So when we recently added 78 square feet to our cramped kitchen, better daylighting was a must.

For the addition’s ceiling, we chose a 5×12-foot Kalwall skylight. Think of it as a big translucent sandwich. The ceiling and roof surfaces are fiberglass bonded to an aluminum grid that looks like a modern shoji screen.

For the filler inside the sandwich, we paid extra for a superinsulating silica aerogel called Nanogel. This feather-light substance cuts heat and sound transmission compared to conventional skylights while allowing in plenty of daylight. Green guru William McDonough’s firm MBDC (mbdc.com) has certified Nanogel as a Technical Nutrient, meaning it can be fully recovered and reused for many industrial lifecycles.

I love the look of our Kalwall skylight and the glare-free light it provides. And the Nanogel makes it remarkably comfortable to sit under the skylight, whether it’s a hot day or chilly night. Info: kalwall.com.

© 2006 Jennifer Roberts. Originally published in Good Green News.

Recommended: The Omnivore’s Dilemma

The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, Michael Pollan, 2006. Pollan answers the question, “What’s for dinner?” with a cogent analysis of why we eat what we eat and how it’s changing us and the planet.