6 TIPS TO COOK GREEN

Did you know that by being careful with our food we could considerably reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, limit water waste, consume less electricity and preserve wildlife and plants! So here are a few tips to help you cook in a greener way!

1- The "B.A.-BA"

The golden rule for environmentally friendly cooking is to prepare your own dishes. No more ready-made dishes, packed with too much plastic and filled with sugar, salt and additives! It's best to buy fresh, authentic ingredients such as fresh fruit and vegetables.

2- Resisting temptation

Before leaving for the race, choose your dishes in advance so as not to be swayed by our stomach when buying. This technique will allow you to create varied menus with healthy meals but also to avoid buying too much and thus reduce waste. So after choosing your recipes, prepare your shopping list! Take a notebook with you so that you can write down exactly the ingredients and the quantity you need.

3- Buy smart 

First of all, it is essential to buy organic, seasonal and local. No more bananas that have travelled thousands of kilometres to reach our supermarket. So cooking ecologically means making a few concessions by consuming seasonal products and eating according to the rhythm of nature and the seasons. Then favour products with the least amount of packaging. Have you noticed the aberrant amount of plastic and cardboard that we bring back from shopping? So, to reduce this carnage, bring back cloth bags to put your fruits and vegetables in. Second tip, opt for bulk! An increasingly common way to buy, bulk allows us to considerably reduce our waste and food waste since we can buy exactly the quantity we need.

4- Grow your own fruits and vegetables

Eating organic food ensures a healthy diet without pesticides, it is even better and more satisfying to eat products from your own garden! Don't worry, it's much easier than you think, even in an apartment! Many people harvest their fruits, vegetables and herbs on their balconies. By the way, check out our blog article of May 18, 2020 for a little tutorial on how to build your own balcony garden with a pallet...

5- Greener recipes

Ecological cooking doesn't necessarily require you to be a professional chef. Most of the time we cook simple recipes such as salads for example, since they do not require any cooking and therefore have zero energy consumption. Especially since eating raw from time to time is very good for your health since you don't destroy the vitamins in the food by cooking! Moreover, opt for recipes that require vegetables, cereals or legumes because they consume much less water than meat during their production. Did you know that the production of a 1 kg piece of beef requires 13,500 litres of water compared to 184 litres for a 1 kg tomato. So of course you are not told to stop eating meat altogether and replace it with tomatoes! But why not reduce it by eating meat every other day, for example!

6- Recycling 

Don't throw your products away! We often have a tendency to separate our peelings, to throw away fruits and vegetables that are a little too ripe or foods that are past their use-by date... In eco-friendly kitchens, we practice recycling! In fact, that's how we invented pizza! For example, recycle the water used to cook vegetables to make one or turn your peelings into chips!