Green Page
Cooking Green
How to go green in the kitchen
There are some ways to work around the inefficient appliances in our kitchens; here are a few tips:
1. Cover up: Where possible, cover up your pots and pans. This will help your food to cook more quickly and generates a higher temperature allowing you to turn down the stove.
2. Taking the heat off: Instead of turning off the stove when the food is done, experiment a little with switching it off just before the food is cooked. An electric frypan can be switched off a minute or two earlier, and oven up to 10 - 20 minutes depending on how well it's insulated and sealed. It may not sound like a huge saving, but particularly with electric stoves, the dollars will add up.
3. Small Appliances: Use a microwave or a toaster oven as much as possible as it will save a stack of electricity.
4. Slow food: Growing up in the 70's, crock pots were all the rage. These were heavy pots that took ages to cook anything, but cooked at a very low temperature. The idea was to switch it on before you head off to work and by the time you came home, the food was done. Saved power and was delicious too!
5. Keep the door closed: How's your oven door glass looking? It's worth spending the time to keep it clean so you can see in rather than opening the door to check on the food.
6. Water, water everywhere: Only use as much water as you need in a pot. Every extra drop requires more energy to heat and will increase the cooking time.
Observing some or all of the points above won't single handedly save the environment, but when millions of us take these small steps in conserving energy, it certainly adds up!
Earth Hour
Make it part of YOUR life
Turning the lights off for Earth Hour is a great first step, but if you really want to see a difference, then make Earth Hour part of your everyday life.
Simple things like turning off appliances while not in use and switching your light globes to energy efficient bulbs, will all help us reach our goal of reducing our annual emissions by 5%. Even something as simple as turning out lights when you’re not in a room and switching to cleaner sources of electricity like “green power”, make a big difference.
Get Your Flyers Online!
Local Supermarkets listed below...
Living with Ed
HGTV Sundays 6:30pm
TV and movie actor Ed Begley Jr., perhaps the greenest man in Tinsel Town , rides his electric car to the Academy Awards and powers his home with the sun and his stationary bike.
But Living with Ed and his environmentalist passion isn't always a walk in the park for wife, Rachelle. This first-of-its-kind reality green show chronicles life with an earth-friendly fanatic with humor and heart. Check out this fresh unscripted docu-soap about the lifestyle of a diehard activist who puts his money and his time where his mouth is.
Mesh Produce Bags
Go shopping, go green
Do your part in reducing the production of plastics by opting for a reuseable mesh produce bag.
When you buy fresh fruits and vegetables, use these weightless mesh bags instead of reaching for a new disposable plastic bag every time.
Extremely affordable at a mere $1.95 for 10 bags! Wow!
Non-Toxic Cleaning Kits
How to make your own!
There are more 'Green' cleaning products than ever, available to buy at the stores, but here's a way to clean green and save some green. Make your own cleaning products.
North Bay Recycling Guide
Online...
To see a digital version of North Bay's recycling guide:
Phones for Food
Got an old cell phone?
Rogers is collecting old cell phones. Drop it off at the EZ Rock studios on the overpass. The recycled cell phone can be from any provider (Bell, Rogers, etc).
Say NO to plastic
Click the bags below
How To Properly Pack a Grocery Bag
Place Heaviest Items at the Bottom
When packing grocery bags, prepare to have several bags open and ready for packing at once. As items come off the conveyor belt, choose the heaviest items to pack first - cans, jars, jugs of milk and laundry detergent, for example- and place these items in the bottom of the grocery bags.
Distribute Heavy Items Among Several Bags
To avoid having some bags that are too heavy to easily carry, distribute the heavy items among several different grocery bags.
Stand Boxes Up
When packing a grocery bag, stand boxes up inside the bag. Standing the boxes gives the grocery bags form and makes them easier to handle. It maximizes the use of grocery bag space, enabling you to use less grocery bags total than if items are tossed into the grocery bag carelessly. Standing the boxes when packing grocery bags also protects the contents of the boxes.
Pack Frozen Items Together
Frozen items need special care when packing a grocery bag. These items should be packed together. There are two reasons for packing frozen items together. The first reason for packing frozen items together is that it helps them maintain their temperature. The second reason is that on arriving home, all of the frozen items, which generally are unpacked first, are easy to locate. Just carry the bag(s) with frozen items to the freezer and unload. This makes the job easier, protects the food, and eliminates the need to open the freezer multiple times.
Pack Refrigerator Items Together
Similar to the freezer items, the refrigerator items have special needs. They need to maintain their temperature. Refrigerator items need to be put away quickly for their sake and the sake of the other items in the refrigerator. Packing all refrigerator items together addresses these needs.
Pack Fruits and Vegetables Together
While fruit and vegetables logically could be packed with other refrigerator items, it makes sense to pack them together. These items go in special drawers in the refrigerator and it is easier to open a drawer and put them all in at once than to have to open it several different times or scavenge through multiple bags looking for the fruits and vegetables.
Pack Cleaning Items Together
When packing a grocery bag, segregate cleaning items from edible items. In case of leakage, this will protect food items from contamination.
Pack Fragile Items at the Top
Fragile items- eggs, breads, and berries, for example- belong at the top of the grocery bag. Placing fragile items at the top of the grocery bag protects them from being squished by heavier items.
Using these simple tips will protect your purchases and simplify the task of unpacking and putting away groceries.
