How to Redesign Your Kitchen without Harming the Planet

Nothing can change the feeling of your home like a newly renovated kitchen. It is possible to have a beautiful, healthy and efficient kitchen that does not harm the planet. The kitchen is usually among the first to consider for renovations when it comes to environmentally friendly renovations. The market has different types of renovation methods that you can consider!
Remodeling the kitchen means updating cabinets, faucets, appliances, walls, floors, and countertops. The possibilities are indeed endless. If you are overwhelmed by the many decisions for rebuilding an environmentally friendly kitchen, focus on water saving, energy efficiency and sustainable source materials to change your kitchen into a sustainable space. Consider focusing on below nine tips.
1: Find an ecological expert
It is always better to work with professionals who already understand the green options you need. You don't want to get someone along the way to seek the best service. By choosing a contractor who knows the kind of kitchen you want to save time and money!
Before making a final decision, meet with a couple of different contractors. Ensure you also spend enough time on the selected team to ensure they are acquainted with the project. You'll also rely on their insight and expertise to make sure your personality matches the project vision!
2: Choose environmentally friendly materials
Pick the right materials to build countertops, floors and backsplashes! Choosing materials that match your colors becomes the most interesting part of kitchen remodeling. However, before making a final major decision, make sure you understand its impact on the environment. The materials can come in any style and you can use them to make environmentally friendly sinks, faucets, and recyclable appliances.
3: Build better cabinets
For an ecological complete kitchen, you need sustainable cabinets. For instance, conventional cabinets made of pressed wood, plywood, particle board and medium-density fiberboard are made with formaldehyde. It is a well-known carcinogen, which is released into the air long after the adhesive dries. Consider going for cabinets made of safer materials, like formaldehyde-free wood, recycled wood, solid wood, recycled wood, bamboo, FSC certified wood or recycled concrete.
4: Choose water-saving fixtures
Just choosing the right environmentally friendly faucet can greatly reduce the water consumption in your kitchen. Low-flow faucets preserve water without sacrificing the luxury of high-pressure water. Such faucets can use up to 1.5 gallons of water per minute, which reduces water flow in the sink by 30% or more without compromising performance.
5: Choose energy-saving lighting
Natural light is the most efficient and arguably the most beautiful. If possible, use tubular daylight systems or skylights to ensure your kitchen has precious natural warmth. For bulbs, choose LEDs instead of traditional incandescent bulbs. LED has extremely high energy efficiency, has a variety of colors, and the service life is usually 20 times longer compared to incandescent lamps. Installing LEDs means you will not worry about bulb replacements for many years. Most importantly, you will be saving valuable energy and utility bills.
6: Invest in energy-saving equipment
Consider using appliances that are energy saving. The modern convection ovens and induction range tops do better than the conventional ones that used gas. More use of renewable energy reduces the cost of gas and as people reduce carbon released in the surroundings, they are able to build a more sustainable kitchen.
The kitchen appliances alone account for a minimum of 10% which is a high percentage for one room. By choosing energy-saving equipment, you can reduce the energy requirements of your house, thereby helping to reduce emissions from power plants.
7: Use VOC-free paints, topcoats and coatings
For an eco-friendly kitchen, avoid using paints that release harmful vapors. Volatile organic compounds (VOC) are chemicals released in the form of gases from different products, including household cleaners, paints and new furnishings. The harmful vapors are released for a long time after the paint dries, which affects health; short-term and long-term. In shorter periods, it can cause headache, nausea, shortness of breath and dizziness. In extended periods, certain volatile organic compounds can cause cancer.
8: Find eco-friendly floors
Use of environmentally friendly flooring products is becoming the norm nowadays. There has been frequent use of certified wood to recycled wood flooring to build sustainable flooring. Other products that you may use include recycled tiles, bamboo and sustainable cork. Manufacturers of such products are particularly good at combining sustainability with fashion. It doesn’t matter the kind of floor you want to renovate, you’ll still retain beauty.
9: Install energy-saving and efficient windows
Usually people like kitchens with big and beautiful windows. Everyone wants to enjoy the natural view while washing dishes. In case the remodeling of your kitchen requires you to replace windows, please choose high-quality and efficiency windows to minimize the heat transfer between outside and inside of the house. If you didn’t plan for the alternatives, consider going for window films or honeycomb curtains.
Benefits of wood flooring
Compared with other floors on the market, wood floors come up with many benefits. Wood floors give warmth, personality and style to any old and new objects. While these kinds of floors have a higher initial cost as compared to others, particularly, carpets or linoleums, they are used for a long time if you do necessary repairs and proper regular maintenance. But with carpets, linoleum, or laminates, their service and performance deteriorate with time. This might force you to replace them frequently over the years. Other benefits you should go for wood flooring is because they improve the appearance of your house, they are easy to clean and they have low maintenance cost. Additionally, they are strong, durable and add value to your house.
Winding Up
Your kitchen is usually one of the busiest places in your home. By considering the various activities that take place in the room, it makes kitchen one of top places that need renovations. When you improve your kitchen, it gives a good opportunity for sustainability since green life does not have to end with simple energy-saving and high-efficiency equipment.