Five Tips For Eco-Friendly Baking

It’s almost Earth Day, so we’ve got eco-friendly baking on the brain. This post features five easy things you can do to cut down your carbon footprint and go ‘green’ in the kitchen.

1: Shop Local

Whenever you can, get ingredients from local growers. Your neighborhood farm-stand, the Sunday market, or the small locally sourced grocery store are all great options that’ll help you reduce your carbon footprint. 

Take it a step further and take up gardening! While it may seem daunting to grow your own food, you can dip your toes with just a few plants to start. Consider growing herbs. They’ll add great flavor to your baked goods, and they’re relatively easy to care for. 

2: Buy And Bake In Bulk

If you want to be a bit more eco-friendly when you’re baking, buy ingredients in bulk. It cuts down on packaging and the number of times you need to run to the store. Bonus, you’ll have every ingredient you’re looking for, on hand. You’ll be less likely to run out of flour in the middle of your recipe!

A great way to save energy is to bake in bulk as well. While it may be a bit of a challenge to find time for a bake-a-thon and to store the goods once they’re out of the oven, it’s an earth-friendly alternative to running the oven all the time. Load the oven full each time you bake, and make multiple batches in a row to avoid turning your oven on more than necessary. Or, start check out some no-bake recipes! That’ll definitely cut down on oven energy use.

2: Get Creative When It Comes to Expiring Ingredients

Instead of tossing those ripest bananas in the garbage, use them in a recipe! The same goes for avocado, fruit, and veggies. Before you toss some perfectly good food, ask yourself, ‘what could I bake with this.’ Zucchini bread anyone? Avocado brownies? Carrot cake cookies? The options are endless. You just need to get a little creative to come up with recipe ideas to give expiring foods new life in your baked goods.

4: Swap Out Plastics For Sustainable Material

Sure, most dough recipes call for cling wrap so you can chill before rolling. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you need to use plastic. Instead, reach for a more sustainable solution. Stick dough into a covered glass container. Or, use a beeswax-coated covering. And, in most cases, a simple dish towel will do the trick! There’s no need to go through rolls and rolls of plastic wrap when you can easily use a more eco-friendly alternative instead.

Take the same attitude when it comes to parchment paper. Yes, it is paper, but it's also single-use. Invest in reusable cooking liners instead. They’ll save you money in the end, and offer a ‘green’ solution in the kitchen.

5: Do The Dishes….

….by hand. Sure, it can be tempting to toss your mixing bowl, spoons, and measuring cups right into the dishwasher to save you some time. But it requires a whole lot of water and energy to run a load. Instead, grab your biodegradable cleaning gloves, your wooden brush and get scrubbing. 

When you wash baking dishes by hand, you get to control how much water you use! Plus, you can (and should) opt for natural products that are safe for the environment. Gentle dish soap works wonders on grimy baking sheets.