How Healthy & Green is your Kitchen?

  1. A green kitchen should include good natural lighting for improved visibility, good ventilation to clear the air of vapors and indoor air toxins, low-toxicity surfaces and finishes, environmentally responsible materials, energy and water efficient appliances, and surfaces that are easily cleanable, durable, and, of course, esthetically pleasing.
  2. As much as possible, locate work surfaces near operable windows or install operable skylights or suntubes for improved lighting and ventilation. Use lighter colours on the walls and shiny floors to brighten up the space.
  3. For additional lighting, high efficiency compact fluorescent light (CFL) fixtures, with a color rendering index of 84 or greater and a color temperature of 3500 Kelvin or greater, and with a quick start, electronic ballast are a possible alternative to regular incandescent, saving you up to 75% in your energy bills. However they contain mercury which if shattered is a problem in the home & in landfills, are often a very limited spectrum for what the eyes & body needs (uses only 2 of the 7 needed rays – however you can find broader, more expensive spectrum bulbs), as well as they give off greater EMF’s (which is becoming a greater concern these days). And there is still debate whether the new LED’s are any better or not and are generally cost prohibitive at 25X the cost of CFL’s. So either its back to incandescent and simply turn them off when you leave the room, or maybe beeswax candles are best in the end!!!
  4. To improve indoor air quality, limit the introduction of toxins by using only “0” or low-emitting materials for cabinet boxes, door and drawer fronts, flooring, paints, finishes, adhesives and sealants.
  5. Avoid standard particle board cabinets and use formaldehyde-free medium density fiberboard, plywood, hemp, straw, wheat or uni-board for cabinet boxes. There are other low cost options such as NU Green (Uniboard), Medite or using a 120 gram Melamine that traps the gasses better than the typical 105 gram melamine composite boards (make sure they are not cut on-site anywhere).
  6. Consider bamboo, Plyboo, reclaimed or sustainably harvested wood (FSC), and straw/wheat board for cabinet doors and drawers. If using solid wood try to use Birch, Poplar or Sorghum as they are harder woods. Pine is also a traditional standard, but softer and easily marred. Try to avoid cedar or woods with strong resins as they can affect those with multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS). Seal your natural finish or stains with a ‘0’ or low-volatile (VOC) organic compound clear finish.
  7. For countertops, consider compressed earth (built up in multiple layers with oil in-between), high fly-ash concrete, papercrete, "Verterazzo" glass colourfully embedded in concrete, recycled plastic, tile (mosaic, recycled, glass, ceramic), granite, salvaged stone slabs, and other unique salvaged materials (such as recycled wood at Urban Tree Salvage, in Toronto).
  8. Many environmentally responsible options exist for flooring, including stained and sealed concrete floors (soy based stains [not acid etched], sustainably harvested or reclaimed wood, bamboo, recycled content tile, slate, natural linoleum (marmoleum), and even cork if well sealed.
  9. Consider an on-demand hot water pumping system rather than a whole house re-circulating hot water loop, which has proven to be inefficient for delivering hot water quickly. Solar hot water heaters are an additional possibility.
  10. There are a series of UV & charcoal filters available that re-use the grey water from your sinks. Or consider installing a wetland garden in your backyard to naturally filter the water. And, install a good quality water filter with a UV ray to purify the water that you do use on a daily basis.
  11. Select energy efficient appliances with the EnergyStar label. You could also switch to Bullfrog Power, the first 100 per cent green electricity retailer in Ontario.
  12. Be sure to only use environmentally friendly natural and biodegradable cleaning compounds so you don’t reintroduce those nasty VOC’s!