3 Easy Ways to Practice Sustainability in the Kitchen - for Yourself and the Environment
Sustainability in the kitchen can be a tough nut to crack. You want to ensure that you are practicing high levels of hygiene - for yourself and the people you are preparing food for - and you also want to give as much back to the environment as humanly possible. At La Pitchoune, we are committed to organic produce, small-batch ingredients, and sourcing our food from local markets and our own garden.
While we recognize that not everyone has the luxury of preparing their own food in this way, here are three simple tricks we use on the property that you may be able to adapt in your own home or commercial kitchen.
Chickens
The best way to avoid an egg shortage? Own some chickens! We do, and it’s one of the most rewarding - and difficult - sustainability swaps we have made. Not only does having a chicken coop and a few little friends help us to avoid supporting factory farming - which is atrocious for the environment - but it allows us to understand where our items are coming from, and to properly discard - and handle - our waste.
We know this particular privilege of ours isn’t always the most accessible option for people, especially when it comes to home kitchens. It takes a pretty penny to build a coop and ensure that the chickens are safe from any outside threats.
Many people are beginning to keep coops in their backyards and on their roofs to provide eggs to the community. If you have a neighborhood or building association that has contacts or access to an organic farm, this can help minimize your footprint egg-wise.
Reusable “Paper” Towels
In the last few years, Kendall encouraged the team to swap out regular paper towels for a reusable option. They’re beautifully made, and though they are made out of washable, reusable fabric, they maintain the texture and cleaning capabilities of a true paper towel. This may come as a surprise to many people who have swapped to more sustainable towel options but are left with funky smells or feeling like their towels are less hygienic.
Compost
We are firm believers in compost culture at La Pitchoune, and highly encourage you to step into sustainability with this as a (more cost-effective) option. It is as simple as procuring a compost-friendly bucket for your kitchen or big container for your yard, depending on the space you have available. While this particular task may seem daunting at first, composting helps to prevent erosion, establish vegetation, and reduce runoff. After all, who wants their organic banana peel sitting in a dump and emitting unnecessary pollutants?
Many cities have implemented composting programs, making it easy to find a location to swap out full compost bins for fresh ones and providing the service of dumping the material where possible. If you have your own yard, you can allow a big container to work through the compost at its own pace, largely cutting out the middle man need to retrieve new containers.
Either way, composting is as simple as retaining your raw material - egg shells, produce seeds and skins, unused legumes, and other food items - in a heat-producing container that creates steam during the process to help break everything down organically. The process is a smelly one, so if you are keeping a container inside, you will want it somewhere where the scent will not offend you.
What’s your favorite way to work sustainability into your cooking experience?
