The kitchen is the heart of every home, the room where you spend most of your waking hours in the house, and the place where the whole family gathers each day. Therefore, it’s often also the room that people put the most thought into renovating. When you’re creating a new kitchen design, you want a room that works for you, functioning in a way that meets your needs. You also want a room that’s attractive and makes you feel good about being in there. Finally, most homeowners today are also considering eco-friendly and green options for their kitchens to both save energy and to create a healthier, more sustainable home for their families. These 5 eco-friendly design ideas for your kitchen will help you achieve all those goals.

1. Bamboo Lumber Cabinets

Cabinets make up a large part of your kitchen. They typically line at least two walls, and are necessary for providing storage for your dishes, pots and pans, glasses, and other items. Because they make up such a large part of the room, most people select their new cabinets either first or second in the design process.

When you’re considering your options, be sure to look at bamboo lumber cabinets as well. Bamboo lumber is a sustainable material with no urea formaldehyde added, so it’s better for the environment and better for your family. It also gives your cabinets an attractive, contemporary appearance that fits in well with today’s trends.

Another option is to use cabinets with a bamboo veneer. This will give you the same look and sustainable finish on your choice of plywood box.

2. Toe-Touch Faucets

Your kitchen sink gets a lot of use on a daily basis. You use it to wash your hands, fill pots, get a drink, or water your plants. And many of the times when you’re using your faucet, your hands are either dirty or full. So, you may struggle to turn the faucet on and off, or you may leave it running longer than necessary while you wait for the ideal time to reach for the handle.

A toe-touch faucet has a concealed button beneath your sink base cabinet that you can reach with your toe. It allows you to turn on and off the faucet even when your hands are full or dirty, so your faucet can stay cleaner and you use less water overall.

3. Recycled Content Countertops

Second only to the cabinets in order of importance to the room is the countertop. Your counter takes up a lot of visible space in the room, and needs to withstand anything you can throw at it from chopping to hot pots. For many years, people liked the idea of stone counters for their looks and durability, but stone isn’t the eco-friendliest material out there.

Instead, consider looking at a recycled glass countertop. Made of recycled glass from things like old lightbulbs and held together with a colored resin, recycled glass counters are eco-friendly, attractive, and low maintenance. A recycled glass counter doesn’t stain, scratch, or burn; you can cut on it or put a pot hot off the stove on it and nothing will happen. They come in a wide range of different color options as well, letting you easily match the rest of your kitchen design.

4. Hardwood Flooring

There are few things that will raise your property and resale values more quickly than the addition of hardwood floors in the home. And when compared to several of the other materials on the market today, hardwood is a sustainable material as well.

While things like clay and natural stone are limited in their availability – once they’re gone, they’re gone – responsible harvesting of hardwoods means that new trees can be planted to take the place of those that were cut. And newer cutting and manufacturing processes mean that more of the lumber gets used, producing less waste. Hardwoods, both solid and engineered, can last for decades as well, making them a long-term investment in your home, as well as a sustainable choice.

5. Cork Backsplash

Want an attractive, dynamic backsplash that will also double as a bulletin board, or that will allow you to easily attach things like rails to hold knives and other appliances? Consider a cork tile backsplash. Cork tiles are made from the bark of a tree, which regrows the bark naturally, making cork an eco-friendly material.

Cork tiles come in numerous sizes, patterns, and colors so you can find some that will complement your kitchen design. Cork is also naturally water resistant – a must in a busy kitchen. Because the tiles are resilient, you can easily attach appliance rails to the backsplash without drilling invasive holes, either. You can also use a section as a bulletin board to help keep your busy family up to date as well.

Create a Greener Kitchen

There are countless ways that you can include some eco-friendly design features in your new kitchen. Use these 5 ideas as a jumping off point to creating the green kitchen of your dreams.

5 ECO-FRIENDLY DESIGN IDEAS FOR YOUR KITCHEN