Tips about green kitchen remodel and green kitchen designs for your home.

Green kitchen remodel or eco-friendly kitchen designs are becoming more popular as we become more aware of the environmental issues facing us. It is about time that we use and build every room in the house by using materials and supplies that are less of a threat to the environment and are renewable.

Green kitchen remodeling and green kitchen designs require you to reuse materials, to buy antique furniture, buy cabinets from companies that use woods that are approved and certified by responsible environmental organizations and use materials that are non-toxic.

Remember that if you use toxic chemicals and products during the remodeling process... they will end up in the environment, in your home, perhaps in your water and your home indoor air quality will be poor and not healthy.

Indoor air pollution is a major problem for some homeowners who experience multiple chemical allergies, cancer, headaches, nausea, asthma, chronic fatigue, bronchitis, memory loss, and other health symptoms and problems.

These issues could be related to petrochemicals and toxic chemicals used in building materials, carpet, furniture, sofas, paint, stains, glues, solvents, finishes, cleaning products used in the home (bleaches, synthetic fragrances, degreasers, toilet bowl and oven cleaners) and many other materials.

Personal items that are used almost daily, like hair spray, nail polish and polish remover also have toxic chemicals that affect your health and your home environment. We should use eco-friendly products that are biodegradable and non-toxic to protect ourselves, our families, wildlife and the environment.

Green kitchen designs and green kitchen remodel means that you should:

• 2- Buy flea market items, antique freestanding furniture, antique kitchen cabinets, use reclaimed or antique wood and European or American hardwoods that are approved by environmental groups for green kitchen remodel.

• 3- Do not use hardwoods from the rain forests because it promotes deforestation, erosion and more environmental problems. Most tropical wood are endangered species and take hundreds of years to grow.

• 4- Recycle your old appliances as it makes no sense to throw away old appliances into the landfills.

• 5- Use renewable materials like bamboo, eucalyptus and cork for green kitchen remodeling and green kitchen designs. Some American and European woods like maple, oak and beech can be used if certified by environmental groups.

• 6- Recycle... recycle... wood should be reused or recycled, not sent to the landfills. If you have furniture that you don't want anymore, give it to Goodwill, Salvation Army, any Thrift store or even to an antique store. Perhaps you could sell it or give it to a friend or someone who needs it.

• 7- Use construction materials that are formaldehyde-free for your kitchen and for the fiberglass insulation. Insulation materials that contain formaldehyde can give you and your family respiratory problems, allergies, nausea and many other health issues.

• 8- Use local construction materials as much as possible... the further the products have to be transported, the more pollution we create and the more energy we consume.

• 9- If your kitchen cabinet boxes are still in good condition, consider to only replace the doors with solid renewable materials like bamboo, for example, and refinish your cabinet doors with eco-friendly finishes and water-based sealers or perhaps buy old cabinet doors or use metal doors.

When painting your kitchen walls or your entire house and refinishing your floors or cabinets, make sure you buy low or no-VOC (volatile organic compounds) paints and wood finishes. Paint, sealants, and finishes contain toxins that may give you and your family health consequences and contribute to air pollution, smog and environmental problems.

Green kitchen designs and green kitchen lighting are still at very early stages. Today, you can buy chandeliers and other light fixtures that are made of recycled glass. Make sure you add plenty of natural light to your kitchen. Good quality windows, skylights and glass doors that are double or triple pane are an excellent idea for the room.

Energy efficient lighting and green kitchen lighting will give you considerable energy savings. Using CFLs also called compact fluorescents for example is energy efficient and in spite of the initial cost, these bulbs will last a long time, use less electricity and they have made quite a few improvements in the quality of the light.

CFL bulbs are not perfect.... they contain mercury which can go into the water, athmosphere and soil if sent to the landfills. Do not throw these bulbs into the trash! It is recommended that you recycle your CFL bulbs (most IKEA stores have recycle centers for these types of bulbs).

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