​There are many sustainability opportunities associated with the kitchen for energy conservation, water conservation, and reducing waste.  I’ll list a few here and then add more in the next post. 

• A small casserole dish baked in the oven requires less cooking time and energy than a large dish.  Instead of using one large pan, divide the casserole into two or more smaller pans.  For many types of casseroles, the second dish can be frozen to eat later.  Freezing the second dish can also reduce food waste if you cannot eat all of the large casserole before it gets too old to eat. 
• Keep the oven door closed as much as possible while baking.  Each time you open the oven door, the temperature in the oven can drop as much as 50 ⁰F, and then energy is needed to reheat the oven. 
• When you are baking in the oven, try to bake multiple items instead of just one.  It takes very little extra energy to cook multiple items and you run the oven only once. 
• Plan your meals before you shop and then buy only what you need.  A large size package may be less expensive per serving, but if you can’t use the whole amount, you haven’t saved money and you’ve wasted the food and the resources that went into producing the food. 
• As you plan your meals, make a plan for the leftovers, too.
• Keep the refrigerator, freezer, and pantry organized so that you can use the food before it spoils.  It’s easy to lose items in the back if you don’t have it organized.  Make sure that everything you put in the freezer and pantry has a date on it so you know which items to use first. 

 

​For a variety of reasons, you may have prescription or over-the-counter medications that were not used.  When it’s time for disposal, do not flush them down the toilet unless the medication guide that comes with the medication says to flush them. (Some medications such as pain-killer patches are dangerous to people if not disposed immediately.)  Medication that is flushed down a toilet or sink can get into streams, rivers, groundwater, and the ocean.  Although some studies show that the small amounts that enter the environment are not harmful, it’s still better to keep these substances out of the environment.  There are also safety concerns with casual disposal of unused medications, because a child or pet may ingest them.  So, what can we do with these unneeded medications?  The two links below contain useful information on a federal drug take-back program in the US, but also provide information on how to safely dispose of medication in a landfill. 

• In the US, there is a federal program that sponsors two prescription drug take-back days a year.  Special drop-off locations are set up on those days and disposal is free.  October 24 is the next drug take-back day (sorry for the short notice).  Here’s a link to find out more.  https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/
• In the US, many law enforcement agencies maintain year-round secure drop-off locations for unneeded medications.  Check with your local law enforcement agency for location information. 
• Other countries may have similar programs, so check the Internet.
• Check with your pharmacy.  They may have a take-back program or be able to tell you how to safely dispose of medications in your location. 
• Many modern landfills can also safely accept these medications, because the landfills are isolated from groundwater and rainwater.   This link has information on how to package medications if you are sending them to a landfill in the US, as well as other information on disposal of unused medication.   https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/where-and-how-dispose-unused-medicines

 
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While some areas of the world are experiencing hurricanes and floods, other parts of the world are facing drought and wildfires.  It is important to conserve water in your daily activities no matter where you live.  In arid regions, water is precious and many reasons to conserve water are obvious.  Some regions rely on deep water aquifers that do not readily recharge, which will lead to future water shortages in the area as the aquifers are depleted.  In addition, no matter where you live, bringing drinking water to your house requires use of energy.  Treating the water that goes into the sewer system after you use it requires more energy.  I found a good webpage with lots of ideas on conserving water.  The Watersense label is only used in the US, but many countries will have a similar program.  Please check out the webpage and start (or continue) saving both energy and water. 
https://www.epa.gov/watersense/start-saving
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I read an interesting article on how the BBC Future Planet staff calculates the carbon footprint associated with researching, writing, and digitally publishing an article.  This carbon footprint information is at the bottom of each article.  In general, they look at carbon emissions associated with travel and carbon emissions associated with digital publishing.  Per the article: “As a whole, the internet would be the sixth greatest emitter of greenhouse gases if it were a country.” The BBC calculation for the digital publishing carbon footprint for an article evaluates factors such as how long a page takes to load, and an average estimate of how many users access the page using a smartphone vs a laptop or desktop.  (Accessing a webpage using a smartphone uses less energy.) 
The carbon footprint calculation for transportation evaluates the emissions from travel for that specific article.  They use a BBC-developed software that provides information for airplane, train, bus, car, etc. travel.  When possible, reporters do their research without travel. 

It’s a fun article to read and brought up some interesting sustainability topics for me to consider as I go through my day.  Here’s the link to the article. 
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https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200131-why-and-how-does-future-planet-count-carbon