10 Easy Kitchen Tips For a Greener Home

1. Put lids on pots - This speeds up heating, using less energy (consider purchasing a pressure cooker to further speed up cooking)
2. Use the right size pot on the right sized burner
3. Keep stove reflectors clean - this makes sure they are most efficient in their purpose is to amplify heat
4. Let leftovers cool before placing them in fridge
5. Don't open the oven when cooking,  doing so reduces the oven temperature by 25 degrees or more
6. Thaw food in the fridge instead of cooking it from frozen
7. Skip or abbreviate the preheat period
8. Consider a toaster oven for smaller projects
9. Try a convection oven - they are more energy efficient, cutting energy use by 20 percent
10. Minimize your opening and closing for the refrigerator. The Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences (University of Florida) says that for most families, the careless opening of the fridge wastes enough energy to run their washing machine 50 times.

Remove BPA from Canned Food Linings

GreenPlanet readers. We think its important to use our voices in advocating for environmentally conscience change. We're support EWG's petition demanding the removal of BPA epoxy from canned food linings. The petition reaches more than 75 brands, including Target's Market Pantry and Bush's.

Over the last 20 years, scientists have shown that  bisphenol A, or BPA mimics estrogen, and may therefore lead to a number of serious illnesses, including breast cancer, reproductive damage, developmental problems and heart disease.

Let's put and end to the use of this toxin in food canning and help EWA reach their goal of more than 50,000 signatures!

Sign the petition here: http://action.ewg.org/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=2151&tag=201506BPAActionFwd

Because there are no federal regulations requiring manufacturers to label their products so that consumers can identify cans with BPA-based linings, it's up to us – American consumers – to take matters into our own hands and demand a change.

Tadpoles: Building An Ecosystem

We are no experts in raising tadpoles, but here is our first attempt at creating a healthy  ecosystem:

Dechlorinated water

A gravel beach

A log for future perching

Some live plants to improve water quality 

Part-shade

Tadpoles for Earth Day

To celebrate Earth Day my son and I collected some tadpoles from the nearby forest.  We've set up an ecosystem at home for them to grow in. We plan to release them back into the forest once they have fully matured.  

My favorite part was the drive home with the windows open, my son exclaiming out the window "Happy Earth Day everyone! Please take care of our beautiful world!"

Which Fruits and Vegetables to Buy Organic

From our Friends at the Environmental Working Group (EWG)

Around our house we love apples, but did you know that apples are the most pesticide contaminated produce item? When shopping how can you know which fruits and vegetables are clean enough to buy conventional and when to spend extra for organic?

Fortunately the EWG has put together a guide to help us with that decision: 2015 Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce™.


Click here to see which fruits and vegetables landed on the Dirty Dozen™ and which made the Clean Fifteen™, http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/?inlist=Y


For 2015 peaches and nectarines have replaced strawberries and grapes for the number two and three spots on the list of the most pesticide-contaminated produce. And apples topped the list for the fifth year in a row!

Make sure you take a look before your next trip to the grocery store.