eco-friendly student living

For many of us, the kitchen is unfamiliar territory to us, with our nearest and dearest taking centre stage at meal times. However, that all changes when we go to university.

To coincide with our October Big Green Month we thought we would share our top 10 eco-friendly student living tips

for when you are rustling something up in the kitchen.

1.Energy-Efficient Kitchen Appliances

Familiarise yourself with basic kitchen appliances. Not only will you find them energy efficient, but easy to use too. You and your flatmates can even make joint

investments on some kitchen appliances that you won’t look back on!

Air fryers- if you’re not familiar with air fryers, you have been missing out! You can cook literally ANYTHING in one all while reducing cooking time too!

Plus, there are so many air fryer recipes out there. Check out @airfryerguy for some tasty treats!

Microwave – The obvious one. Speedier, more powerful and certainly more energy efficient.

Plus, you have to try out our 4 min mug cake challenge!

2.Prep ahead

Before pre-heating the oven or hobs, make sure ingredients such as vegetables and other cooking essentials are prepared and to hand, rather than pre-heating kitchen appliances unnecessarily. This cuts back on cooking time, and your own time too!

3.Defrost Food Naturally

Plan ahead by taking out any meat or frozen items the night before cooking. This saves on cooking time and even helps save energy in the kitchen

4.Cut Cooking Time Early

As your meal is almost ready, turn off your kitchen appliances in those final minutes. Your kitchen appliance will still retain the same temperature without using more energy to heat itself… and, you don’t run the risk of forgetting to switch off!

5.Skip Preheating

Try to eat food when it is freshly cooked, and avoid reheating if you can… food usually loses its quality and taste when reheated and by not reheating, you can save energy too.

6.Cook in Batches

A great kitchen energy saving tip is to try and prepare various meals at once. Making healthy eating easier and saving energy in the kitchen all round!

7.No sneak peaks!

We get it, there is nothing worse than waiting on food to cook, but each time we open the oven door, this can lower the temperature by 25 degrees which overall extends cooking time.

8.Chill out!

It sounds more complicated that it needs to be, but by making sure your fridge

is set to the correct temperature, this can help keep food fresh for three days longer than usual.

Love food hate waste shares great advice on ideal fridge temperatures.

9… our Hack of the week

If have any leftover herbs that are nearing their use by date, freeze these with oil in ice cube trays.

This way you can still enjoy fresh flavours long after herbs would usually wilt and waste away.

Good Food Cook Smart podcast

Listen on the go to food writer Mallika Basa as she shares weekly

kitchen energy saving tips and cooking methods.

Want to learn more on eco-friendly student living? Catch up with our Big Green Month top tips,  meal in a reel features and the latest Big Green Month highlights!