Remodeling your kitchen can take a lot of resources – both yours and the planet’s. But you can reduce your carbon footprint when renovating the most popular room in your home. Here are some ways to renovate your kitchen with environmental consciousness in mind.

Refinish or repaint cabinets and floors instead of opting to replace them – this is both easy on the budget and easy on the planet. If you have to throw something out, consider repurposing it for other uses. You can turn old kitchen cabinets into outdoor storage furniture, or old glass panes into tabletops. Charity also welcomes donations of items that are in decent condition. Local laws will tell you exactly what you can and cannot recycle, but much of the debris from your remodeling project may be recyclable. You can also take advantage of some things that others want to dispose of, such as hardware for your cabinets.

Simplify your renovation plan. Large cabinets and wide countertops may seem attractive when you see them on TV, the Net, and print media, but they may actually be impractical for you and the environment.

Redo your layout. You may consider relocating the components of your kitchen to take advantage of natural light. Place the food preparation and washing area right next to a window to reduce electrical consumption. Ensure that there are provisions for hotter weather like placing awnings or curtains near these windows to keep temperatures at a comfortable level. Move your refrigerator to a cool area, away from windows and the stove and oven. Your fridge will have to work harder and consume more electricity if it operates near these heat sources.

Utilize sustainable, stewardship-certified, and low-VOC materials. Numerous cabinet manufacturers currently give consumers the option of going ‘green,’ by manufacturing products that use low-VOC glue and wood from sustainable sources. Some products may be more expensive, although equally earth-friendly alternatives may be found in other big home furniture stores as well. Avoid countertops made of granite. They may look attractive, but stone is not a renewable resource. Mining is far from being earth-friendly. Consider better materials such as recycled marble, recycled glass, recycled tile, or even high-tech panels made out of recycled paper.

Bamboo is a bit more politically gray. There is no sure way of knowing whether your flooring was made under humane working conditions and harvested from sustainable sources. In addition, the rise in popularity of bamboo has given way to many unethical and environmentally-unsound business practices. One of these is slash and burn farming, wherein bio-diverse forests are burned to make way for acres of bamboo. Instead, you may want to try floors made of recycled cork tiles. They have the recycled aesthetic, and are more comfortable to walk on and stand on. The acoustic qualities of cork also reduce sound drastically.

New, more energy efficient appliances are a good way to go. However, buying a ‘green’ refrigerator is just part of the equation. Patronizing food that is organic and locally grown is another step. These foods are grown or produced without the use of harmful pesticides or chemical-based fertilizers and by being local, they don’t require near as much fossil fuel for transportation. Far less carbon footprint is produced by its transition from the field to your table.

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