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Many people around the country these days are looking for some sustainable kitchen remodeling ideas to lower their impact on the environment. This is a great strategy to employ and it often coincides with ideas for remodeling a small kitchen on a budget.
You may have heard a lot of remodeling kitchen ideas, but it is hard to tell which ones are good for the planet and which ones are bad for the earth. Finding some legitimate sustainable kitchen remodeling strategies will help you feel better about getting your dream kitchen.
For this blog post, our kitchen design experts will share their favorite sustainable kitchen remodeling ideas. After reading this article you will have all the inspiration you need to make your new kitchen come to life without harming mother earth.
What Kitchen Items Can You Reuse?
Most kitchen fixtures, especially older ones, have a long lifespan and you may have a chance to get some more years or decades out of them. Doing this requires a lot less carbon emissions than buying new items that have to be shipped all over the country or globe.
You might try simply cleaning things, and seeing if you like the way they look. Another option that can breath new life into your kitchen fixtures is to paint them.
Kitchen cabinets are an item that are meant to last a lifetime, but people often throw away because they get dirty or their hardware wears out. You can save a ton of money and do something good for the planet by restoring your kitchen cabinets to make them as good as new.
Can Your Kitchen Fixtures Be Recycled?
Even if you don’t want to use an item fromtour kitchen, it is pretty likely that someone else will. This is where used building supply stores are a perfect tool to make a sustainable kitchen remodel.
They will take your unwanted and usable items and sell them to someone who can enjoy them. There is often the added incentive of a tax credit if the store is a charity, or possibly some store credit so you can buy other items to your liking.
Store like Habitat For Humanity’s Restore even have pickup services so you don’t have to worry about hauling away your unwanted stuff. This is a real win win for everyone involved, especially for the environment.
Shop For Used Building Supplies
Here we are, preaching the virtues of recycling again, this time from the other angle. Used Building Supplies often function just as well or better than new ones, and you keep that stuff from overflowing our landfills.
One of the difficulties of shopping for used building supplies is that you might not find exactly what you want or enough if what you need. You should approach used building supply shopping with an open mind, and take your inspiration from what you can find and what is abundant.
It could also take you more time to find all of the things you need, which will slow down your project. It takes a good amount of patience to use this technique, but the planet will thank you for your efforts.
Upgrade To Energy Star Appliances
Finding ways to reduce your energy consumption is a big part of designing a sustainable kitchen. Energy star certified appliances use less energy and are better for the environment.
They normally have a higher upfront cost, but the saving they give you on electricity bills can lay for themselves many times over. If you can stretch your budget for more efficient appliances, you could be much better off in the long run.
Even if you want to reuse your current appliances, the amount of carbon they could require to run could be higher than if you bought a new one. This is something you have to think about when narrowing down your sustainable kitchen remodeling ideas.
Water Saving Plumbing Ideas
Water is one of our most precious resources, and they say that droughts could threaten many people around the globe. It’s important to save water, and you can make that a priority in your sustainable kitchen remodel.
You can choose a kitchen faucet that has low water settings so you don’t use as much there. These faucets won’t let out as much water as other faucet unless you deliberately need the extra ounces
You could also consider a grey water recycling system to send extra irrigation to the plants in your yard. You may need to check with your building codes to make sure you are being safe with water treatment before using grey water.
Professional Lighting Design Saves Energy
Working with a design team can help you focus your lighting efforts to give you a brighter kitchen that uses less electricity. This is a huge advantage for your comfort and for our amazing earth.
You can have task lighting installed that illuminates the places you use most often for cooking like the spot where you chop carrots. This makes it so that you can have more efficient ambient lighting, which requires the bulk of the lighting electricity in the kitchen.
Getting new high efficiency light fixtures installed will also help to lower your carbon footprint and your energy bills. They also come in many stylish options to match your taste and design goals.
Choose Locally Sourced Products
If you can find decor and materials that are made closer to you that saves a lot of carbon that causes global climate changes. You also support local jobs and businesses that will strengthen your community.
There are many artisans in all areas of the country who could do some amazing and unique work as part of your sustainable kitchen remodeling project. You can get a beautiful kitchen that all your friends will envy and praise you for.
Many folks around the country just make their kitchen from the cheapest products that come from China. It’s not a sustainable building method, and by choosing locally sourced products you are giving yourself an original gift that is good for the environment.
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