Give your dated, energy suck of a kitchen a thoroughly efficient makeover.

Talk about ravenous. According to the National Association of Home Builders, residential electricity use accounts for approximately 20% of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, the lion’s share fuming from our kitchen appliances. The fridge is a particularly hungry beast, chomping up 17% of the electricity used in a typical American home.

Replacing outmoded appliances with newer eco-considerate ones can save you money in the long haul, and make you feel a little less guilty about wasting (your) energy during late-night food recon missions in front of an open refrigerator door. So what are you waiting for? Shop for efficient ice makers and appliances today!

The Ice Cool is undoubtedly cool. It relies on a hybrid cooling technology, which is up to five times more efficient than major consumer brands on the market. Mason anticipates, “the reduced energy demand of 5,000 of my fridges would save one whole power station, and it would be like shutting down another one when they run passively.”

The washing machine is another kitchen-realm appliance that could use an energy makeover given that 70-90% of the electricity required is used to heat the water alone. This washer from Hoover, with a 22 lb drum size, can reduce the number of loads you do by half. Plus it weighs laundry and adjusts cycle times, water and electricity usage accordingly.

Feast your eyes on the picture below:

Perhaps you have no idea what you are looking at? It’s called FlexInduction, a stovetop innovation that allows you to heat pans of any size positioned anywhere within the zone. What that means is this: it’s like watching water boil, but more efficiently because pans are heated from the outside in.

The FlexInduction system from Neff also features an LED display and timer, automatic pan recognition and power management function.

If you like to whistle while you sauté, the SolarDAB portable radio is for you. Situate it on a sunny windowsill and the batteries will recharge themselves for up to 27 hours.

The Nahamer T450 calls itself “the first environmentally sustainable toaster.” It’s a lovely little bread conductor that’s 20% faster than its cohorts and uses half the energy. Anyone who’s ever had a toaster will appreciate that the Nahamer is designed to be disassembled and repaired instead off tossed out and replaced. What’s truly sleek is the Toast Drop system, which slides your toast straight onto your plate. Better than butter.

The food processor is often touted as one of the most used appliances in the kitchen. I’m addicted to my Bosch, but this multi-use, foot-pedal-powered blender/coffee grinder/chopper and cutting board has me drooling.

Christoph Thetard’s eco-friendly concept features built in storage for all of its various and sundry attachments. The flywheel, meanwhile, mounted inside a finished wooden case, can generate 350 watts of power per minute.

Finally, coffee: the guts and brawn of your morning. The solar energy coffee maker by Gun ho Lee appears to be in development, prompting an internal reminder that patience – like fair trade beans – is a virtue.

As is this design:

If you’ve come across any sleek, eco-friendly appliances EcoSalon should know about, tell me about them at emily@ecosalon.com or tweet to @ecosalon.

Image: Marco Calderisi

The post An Eco Makeover for the Kitchen (With Seriously Sexy Appliances) appeared first on EcoSalon.

TLC series includes a vegan diner on its list of 10 best and “The Today Show” helps us green our kitchens. Just two more reasons to say “I Want My Green TV.”

“Best Foods Ever” Goes Vegan

Typically, when a foodie TV show travels around the country looking for yummy treats, the meals discovered are filled with meat and cheese and all sorts of unhealthy fare. TLC’s new show, “Best Foods Ever,” switched it up this week by including a vegan locale.

The six-episode series is narrated by “Rosanne”/”Treme” star John Goodman and each show covers a list of 10 places in a category. This week’s episode, “Darn Good Diners,” visited greasy spoons from Massachusetts to Memphis, and included an all-vegan establishment.

They stopped by The Chicago Diner for a taste of their acclaimed Radical Reuben. Bet you’re asking the same thing we did. A Reuben? How do you make a Reuben without meat?

Well, the Chi-town haunt uses seitan roast beef (made from wheat gluten). Throw on some grilled onions and peppers, sauerkraut, soy cheese and vegan dressing and put it all on some nice fresh rye bread. Voila. A meatless and delicious Reuben.

The diner has been meat free since ’83 and still manages to include comfort foods from chili to meatball subs to enchilada pizza, all without harming a single living being.

The episode of “Best Food Ever” also covered nine other diners. And while we were intrigued by the Monkey French Toast (caramelized bananas and mangoes between two pieces of challah bread) served up at Sam’s Morning Glory in Philadelphia, we were delighted that they at least put one vegan stop on the list.

“‘Today’ Goes Green”

Everybody else might have been firing up the grill, but we carved out a piece of our Memorial Day Weekend to reorganize our kitchen. And thanks to a segment on last week’s “Today Show” we not only made it look prettier, it’s now way more eco-friendly, too.

The morning show’s diet and nutrition editor Madelyn Fernstrom walked notorious foodie Al Roker around the kitchen set with some really helpful tips as part of their ongoing “‘Today’ Goes Green” series.

We plan on employing the very useful tips like installing a water purifier to cut down on plastic bottles and cooking with a crock pot that not only is less of an electricity drain than an oven, but keeps the kitchen cool. We’re also going to clean all the extra junk out of our fridge so that it uses less energy. And we might skip the tip about ditching our electric can opener for a manual version, but we’ll make up for it by composting.

And, in case you’re wondering, the segment went off without a hitch – almost. Ann Curry did accidentally walk in through the kitchen door mid-segment. It was her her second faux pas of the week. Her first? Naming grads from Wheaton College in Illinois during her commencement speech at Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts.

For more green kitchen tips visit “The Today Show’s” website.

Tune in next time to see what’s cropping up on green TV.

Image: Jason Anfinsen

The post I Want My Green TV: TLC Showcases Vegan Goodness appeared first on EcoSalon.

Here in sunny California, every few days during this unusually chilly May, the sky begins to spit out a cold drizzle. So while hearts, minds, and pale goose-pimply limbs are ready for summer, it still feels decidedly wintery. But alas, at the market we have an abundance of tender, green shoots. What to do? Here’s one answer: Late Spring Minestrone with Green Pea Pistou from Food 52.

If your winter cravings of deep leafy greens are still as intense as mine, I’d suggest trying this Kale and Carrot Salad from Food in Jars. It’s easy, healthy, and will pair well with just about any meal.

And now for something sweet: Berries are slowly coming into season here. And I love a simple cake with fruit. Here’s a lovely Lime Yogurt Cake with Blackberry Sauce from Smitten Kitchen.

Image: Gozalalewis

The post Three Recipes to Try: Spring Minestrone with Green Pea Pistou, Kale and Carrot Salad, Lime Yogurt Cake appeared first on EcoSalon.