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I have a real problem with clutter in the kitchen. A kitchen should not be filled to the brim with tons of unnecessary gadgets. They fill up your counters and your drawers leaving you with no room to work. Gadgets and tools are a waste of money too and in the end just gather dust. A good majority of kitchen junk is made from nonrenewable plastic and comes with a ton of wasteful packaging. Today packaging represents roughly one-third of municipal waste in the United States.
Here's what you really need in the kitchen:
- Skip all the choppers, mini choppers, egg slicers, garlic peelers, and specialty knives and get a good chef's knife. One chef's knife is all you really need. Don't put it in the dishwasher and sharpen it when it gets dull and it will last you for years to come.
- Buy a good eco-friendly cutting board (not five, just one) and hand wash it. I like the bamboo cutting boards because bamboo is a certifiably perfect eco-material. It's an entirely renewable resource, which can be re-harvested in less than five years. And it never needs to be replanted. It doesn't require pesticides or any of the other nasty toxins currently taking their toll on our planet. Bamboo is a useful tool in the fight against global warming because it reintroduces oxygen into the atmosphere.
- If you're a baker, a mixer can be a must, but if baking is not part of your repertoire, use a simple whisk to mix your foods. The larger mixers can take up tons of room on your counter and you can pay hundreds of dollars for them. Instead, why not use some elbow grease?
- A good skillet and a large pot can go a long way. As with the chef's knife, wash skillets and pots by hand and never put them in the dishwasher. Don't waste your time with tons of varying sizes of cheap skillets.
Save energy in the kitchen:
Pressure Cookers Revisited: Energy Saving in the Kitchen
Myths That Waste Energy In The Kitchen: The Baking & Roasting Episode
When it is Hot, Get in the Kitchen
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