With the acute awareness we all now have regarding protection of our environment, restaurants and food outlets are now getting on the bandwagon. With your contribution to it, there should be a substantial difference in the near future.

Order your pizza from a place that uses organic ingredients. Even better, does their delivery driver use a hybrid car? Do they have solar or wind devices to cut electrical costs? Do they uses recycled materials for their packaging?

Suggest to your favorite restaurants that they use the local farmers for their fruits and vegetables whenever possible. Don’t let them serve you foods or beverages or take out in styrofoam. Ask them to buy and serve only organically grown and fair traded coffee, tea and hot chocolate. If your favorite place has outdoor seating, encourage them to use recycled outdoor furniture, and reusable dishes, glasses, and cutlery.

You can do your part at home in your own kitchen. Check the seal on your refrigerator. You don’t want cold air leaking out. Replace the seals if they are not tight. If you rinse your dishes before putting them in the dishwasher, do it with cold water instead of hot. All you are trying to do is remove debris, not grease…the dishwasher will do that.

Convection ovens conserve more energy than the standard variety, because they use less cooking time and lower temperatures. Self-cleaning ovens are good because they have tighter seals and much better insulation. And use the light to peek at your food. Every time you open the oven the temperature drops 25 degrees, and has to warm up again.