Happy November, from everyone here at Lloyd EcoDistrict! With the holidays right around the corner, we know many of you are planning to prepare plenty of delicious home cooked meals… I can practically taste the apple pie just typing this! With that in mind, we thought we’d share some of our favorite kitchen energy saving EcoTips to help you stay as eco-friendly as possible this holiday season! In no time, you’ll be ready to whip up your favorite dish and bask in all its delectable, rich glory. So get your apron out, your favorite recipes, and read on for some simple tips and tricks to keep your cooking as green as possible! 

• Oven Baking: When baking in the oven, simply turn it off a few minutes early. The heat from running it will continue to cook the food as you start to dish up your latest creation. This trick can also be applied to the stove when boiling food, with the exception of leaving poached eggs in hot water, which will turn into hard-boiled eggs quickly! 
• Defrosting: Instead of using your microwave or oven to defrost food, plan ahead and put your frozen food in the fridge to defrost.
• Boiling Water: In order to conserve water and energy required to bring water to boil, use only the minimum amount of water required to cook that delicious pasta. Try using a measuring cup to ensure that you are using the right amount and add a little extra to make room for spillage or evaporation. 
• Burner Size: Choose the right burner for the size of pan you’re using. Small burners take much longer to heat large pans than they do small pans. This means that the stove is working harder than it needs to and is using more energy than necessary. Not only can selecting the appropriate sized burner for the pan you’re using save energy, but it can help cut down your energy bill by several dollars a month. 
• Steaming Vegetables: Whenever possible, steam vegetables instead of boiling them. Steaming them uses less water and conserves more of your vegetables’ nutrients. 

We hope you enjoyed reading about a few planet-saving ways to approach your holiday cooking, I know I sure enjoyed researching them and can’t wait to apply them to my own life! Speaking of which, stay tuned for our next blog post because we plan to share a Monthly EcoTip on a regular basis. Now is the perfect time to instill some EcoFriendly habits, while we’re all at home social distancing. On that note, don’t hesitate to reach out if you’d like to share any EcoTips that you think others who read our blog might be interested in hearing about. To do so, simply email info@ecolloyd.org. 

Thanks for reading and see you next month!

-Aspen Caroline

References: 

• www.kleenheat.com.au
• www.www.efficiencyns.ca

Tags: #EcoTip, #EnergyEfficiency, #MonthlyEcoTip