Green Kitchens – Ecological Kitchens.
Green is not just a color any more – if you are reading this blog, you have access to a computer and therefore are familiar with green, ecological products – it’s everywhere! The question is – how do you find true green products or in our case – a green kitchen?
Apparently, there are many shades of green and it is not easy to defferentiate between a ‘true deep green’, a ‘faded, washed out green’ and a product that only claims to be green… In the case of European made kitchens it is a little easier because the European standards are very high and already forces manufacturers to produce greener products by default – make sure that the product has an ‘E1 Emission Class’ – a very high European standard that insures a greener product.
A few points to consider:
1. The box materials – An ecological kitchen is made without cutting down any trees, as simple as that – ecological furniture must not be merely “recyclable” or contain a percentage of recyclable wood – it must actually be made of 100% of recycled wood! A few companies have already made the commitment to use only 100% recycled wood in building their kitchen products. Make sure the box and panel materials are made from a certified ‘Ecological Panel’.
2. The doors – obviously, a solid wood door will be the least green. A veneer door, from a non exotic, sustainable wood, will be better. ‘None wood’ material, such as glass, laminate or lacquer finishes, which are produced properly are the greenest.
3. Is the product toxic? Many products, available in the market these days, are made without any consideration for the environment or for you – they have a high emission of formaldehyde and other toxic fumes. A green kitchen should have very little to no VOC (VOC stands for Volatile Organic Compounds, the toxic fumes from most building products.) .
Now, if all this sounds complicated and very expensive to achieve – think again. On the contrary – companies like Pedini Kitchens have been producing these types of products for years. Their costs have not changed, as a result of producing green kitchens and the quality level did not suffer at all.
Some other importent ideas for designing a green kitchen – recycling center, energy efficient appliances (not just in terms of energy but appliances that are suitable to the family size – 2 family members with 3 refrigerators in the kitchen is not very green…).
Go Green!
anything green is always healthier.