Tips for Eco Friendly Cooking

Cooking is something that just about every household does. Even if it’s not on a nightly basis, most people do cook meals at home several times per week, at least. That means it can add up to leaving a big carbon footprint. But the good news it that, in the matter of being more environmentally friendly, there are things you can do about it when it comes to cooking!

Ways to make your cooking more eco friendly include:

• Check your burner to ensure you are using the correct size. If you use one that is too big, you will end up wasting energy.
• Try to do as much of your food shopping locally as possible. The more food you use that has been grown in your area, the better for the environment.
• Look for organic, whenever possible. These foods will automatically be more eco friendly, before you even begin the preparation phase.
• Take your own bags with you when you go to the store or farmers market. This will save on all the bags that are used and tossed out each year.
• Try to forgo plastic as much as possible. If you have a choice between buying foods that are in jars or foods in plastic containers, opt for the jar. It’s more eco friendly to begin with, and will be easily recycled.
• Keep a cloth towel handy, rather than using up a bunch of paper toweling, when you are cooking.
• Only run the dishwasher once it is full, so that you don’t end up wasting water and electricity.
• When it comes to purchasing your cookware, look for pots and pans made from cast iron, aluminum or copper, which are all eco friendly options.

The little things that we do each day to be more environmentally friendly all add up. The more you do today; the better off the world will be tomorrow. And if we all make these changes, it will have a major impact on the planet.

When it comes to being eco friendly with any junk or unwanted items you may have, keep us at Capital Junk in mind. We serve the entire Ottawa area with professional junk removal services, and we do it in the most environmentally friendly way possible. 

Interesting Garbage Facts Every Canadian Should Know

How much do you really know about garbage? If you are like most people throughout Ottawa, as well as across Canada, it’s probably not much at all. Sure, you know that you have some, and that it gets taken out each week to the curb. But after that, most people don’t give it much thought. And that can be a huge, stinking problem!

For starters, did you know that Canada has some 10,000 landfills? It’s true! Each landfill takes up space and is, in all likelihood, near someone’s home. Nobody wants to live near a landfill, but if we keep filling them up at the rate we are going, we will need to create new landfills, which means finding new spaces to create them. And it has to go somewhere, so all you can do is hope it won’t be in your neighborhood.

Garbage is something that we can’t escape. It’s going to be there, no matter how hard we try to completely do away with it. Part of the problem lies not only in what is being produced, but in what is being done with it. The average Canadian creates about 2.7 kg of garbage each day, adding up to a combined total for the population of around 31 million tonnes of garbage per year. However, only 30 percent of that is recycled! That’s right, it is estimated that 67 percent of it ends up in landfills, both around Ottawa and all over Canada.

We can help change this, starting by doing our part to recycle. The more we keep out of area landfills, the better off the whole country, and ultimately planet, will be. Make it a goal this year to reduce, reuse, and recycle! The planet, and your neighbors, thank you for it.