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Your kitchen is your biggest energy using room in the house. A few simple steps can reduce your kitchen's energy intensiveness.
What you can do
- Don't Rinse: Let the dishwasher do the work. Don't pre-rinse those dishes! Consumer Reports has found that this can waste 20 gallons of heated water a day. All you need to do is scrape off leftover food (into a compost bin if possible).
- Use Your Microwave: Think twice before turning on the oven. Heating food in the microwave uses only 20 percent of the energy required by a full-sized oven. And while the second-hand heat from the oven may be welcome in winter, it can put an added load on your air conditioner in warmer months.
- Put a lid on it! When cooking, keep the lids on pots. Better yet, use a microwave oven instead for simple re-heating.
- Clean the coils on your refrigerator. Your fridge's motor won't have to run as long or as often. In addition to saving energy dollars, you'll prolong the life of the appliance.
- Go low-flow: Install low-flow showerheads and sink aerators to reduce hot water use.
- Buy local: Shipping burns fuel. A 5-pound package shipped by air across the country creates 12 pounds of CO2 (3 1⁄2 pounds if shipped by truck).
For More Information
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Clean Energy 
