How to achieve sustainable cooking, without changing your diet

Sustainability is not just a buzzword. It is a way to save time, money and make less negative impact on the environment. While many choose sustainable living as their lifestyle there are many simple small changes anyone can make and easily implement into their every day. To help you do that we have prepared a list of easy things you can do in your kitchen that will help your bank account and the planet.

1. Choose appliances with lower energy consumption

Energy production leaves marks in the environment and energy consumption leaves them in your wallet. While we all rely on appliances to prepare food, choosing the right ones can make a difference. When buying an appliance check out its energy consumption and energy class on the label. Gorenje is consciously creating appliances that are nature-friendly and consume up to 15 % less energy comparing to appliances in energy class A. To take things even further, they are made from 51 % recycled materials and come with 60 % smaller printed manuals.

2. Use less heat

Don’t let your appliances consume energy when it is not needed and turn them off once your food is done. Gorenje ovens and cookers let you know when they are heated and when your food is ready. Besides that, the ovens have a special SteamAssist function that requires less heating time and delivers perfect crunchy crust.

When using an electric hob, you can reduce the energy consumption by using heat residue to finish cooking or keep the food warm. Gorenje hobs need less heating time thanks to PowerBoost function and maintain the boiling temperature with IQboil function.

3. Change your buying habits

Save more by buying less. That doesn’t mean you have to keep your pantries empty, but rather buy only what you need or will need in the near future. This way you avoid overstocking and throwing away food that goes bad. To be more environment-friendly you can also go to a local market instead of the supermarket and buy local food. It leaves less carbon footprint because it is not delivered from afar, has less packaging plus it often has more nutrients.

4. Reduce food waste

Avoid throwing away prepared meals by freezing them or using them as a part of your next day’s meal. You can also reduce food waste when it comes to ingredients. Here are some ideas:

• Make a stock from parts of vegetables you would normally throw away. Onion, garlic and carrot peels, broccoli, cauliflower and asparagus stems and other parts of unused vegetables are great ingredients for a stock you can use in soups, sauces or risottos. Simply keep a seal bag in your freezer and toss in all unused parts of vegetables every time you cook. Once the bag is full, put the vegetables in a stockpot, cover it with water, add some salt and cook it. Then strain it and keep the stew in refrigerator or freezer.
• Storing food can be done in different ways and making condiments is a great option to use ingredients you have an abundance of. Use sauerkraut for kimchi, basil or other herbs for pesto and fruit for jam.
• Fertilize your garden with coffee beans and eggshells that make a great addition to the soil that your plants will appreciate.