8 ways to save energy in the kitchen

Changing a few small habits in the kitchen can help you save energy, water, resources and money.

1. Try to reduce the amount of food packaging you bring home. Buy fruit and vegetables loose or take your own bags to collect your shopping.
2. Reuse packaging as much as you can. Bottles, jars and plastic containers can be washed and reused time and time again.
3. Recycle as much of your garbage as you can, but make sure you follow your local guidelines.
4. Do not put food scraps down the toilet or sink. Instead recycle them using a garden compost heap or, if space is tight, a worm farm.
5. Put a strainer in your sink plughole to catch food scraps, then add them to the compost.
6. Avoid using sink garbage-disposal units as these use extra water and flush food scraps into waste pipes.
7. Wash dishes by hand to save energy. As long as you're not wasteful with water while rinsing, you'll save water, too.
8. If you have a modern, high-efficiency dishwasher, and run a full load on an economy setting, you may use just 16 litres of water each time. That's two litres less than the average hand wash uses.

These small, simple and inexpensive changes in the kitchen can result in big savings down the road, both on your wallet and for the planet.