Tips for cre­at­ing a kitchen that is health­ier for the planet and your family!

Whether you are build­ing a new Man­dala home or want­ing to improve the home you are cur­rently liv­ing in, there are a few sim­ple actions you can take to make your kitchen more green, naturally.

Kitchen in a wing next to a round home

 

WHEN YOU ARE BUILDING YOUR NEW MANDALA HOME: Your designer will work with you to decide on the best ori­en­ta­tion for your cli­mate for the dif­fer­ent rooms of your new home. The Mag­no­lia 2300 (pic­tured above), fea­tures a due East ori­en­ta­tion for max­i­mum nat­ural sun­light in the kitchen.

BUILD IN NATURAL VENTILATION: Include an open­ing win­dow next to the stove in your home design and your have a nat­ural method for rid­ding the kitchen of cook­ing fumes. A  nearby out­door room offers low energy con­sum­ing com­fort­able eat­ing space and nat­ural cross ven­ti­la­tion can keep your smelling fresh and clean.

CHOOSE NON-TOXIC FLOOR, COUNTER, CUPBOARD FACE FINISHES: The food you eat comes in con­tact with the kitchen counter tops and the air in the entire house is affected by off-gassing from the VOC’s found in the stan­dard fin­ishes used in con­struc­tion. It’s extremely impor­tant to choose non-toxic and non-VOC fin­ishes like beeswax, Land Ark and Ver­mont Nat­ural Coat­ings. An added bonus is that these fin­ishes smell like honey and cit­rus. Wonderful!

CONSERVE PRECIOUS WATER: When you are rins­ing dishes or chang­ing water tem­per­a­ture, rather then run­ning potable water down the drain, catch the water in a stain­less steel bowl or dish tub and reuse it to water plants, soak dirty pots, wipe coun­ters, etc. Reuse water that you cooked veg­etable in in soups and stews.

CHANGE YOUR OLD LIGHT BULBS: Good light­ing is cru­cial for kitchen safety, energy sav­ings and the com­fort of your eyes. Kitchens are also a high-use room in the home. So, the best place to begin replac­ing your old incan­des­cent light bulbs with new energy sav­ing LED and CFL bulbs

LEAVE YOUR OVEN DOOR OPEN: In cool months, after bak­ing, be sure to prop your oven door open when you are fin­ished bak­ing. This sim­ple act ensures that you can use the resid­ual warmth from the oven to heat your home.

GROW LOVELY HERBS ON YOUR WINDOWSILL: Plants grown indoors con­tribute to cleaner air, less tox­ins in the home envi­ron­ment and a hap­pier, more beau­ti­ful home. When these indoor plants are edi­ble , it gets even bet­ter! Choose a sunny sill and start with easy herbs like;  thyme, basil, mint, bay leaf, and rose­mary. Be sure to rinse your herbs before eating.