Every day can be Earth Day in the kitchen if you resolve to act on a few of the following green ideas this year.

From more efficient appliances and earth-friendly floors and cabinets to what you buy and what you eat, you can be kind to the environment.

The following list is a collection of ideas from national manufacturers and from Lancaster people who love the earth, one simple act at a time.

Appliances

• Dismantle the automatic ice maker on your refrigerator, suggested Marlisa Yoder-Bontrager of Lancaster whose passion is green living. Ice makers use unnecessary energy to freeze the water, to warm the ice mold so the ice can be removed, to operate the motor that pushes ice from the mold and to operate the compressor that removes the extra heat from the freezer, she said.

• Set the hot-water heater at a temperature that is just comfortable for using. Overheating your water and then adding cold water is less efficient, Yoder-Bontrager said.

• Appliances — everybody knows about Energy Star appliances, but look closely at the ratings on the mandatory information sheet or attend the free seminar in Ephrata. (See "Free seminar on electric issues," below, for information.) There will be differences in performance and savings over time, Jeff Geoghan, a Lancaster Realtor, said. Visit www.energystar.gov to see how energy-efficient your potential new appliance would be.

Habits

• Use cloth napkins instead of paper napkins. Margaret High, of Lancaster, makes them last until they are really dirty by putting the cloth napkins in personalized napkin rings — each family member gets his or her own napkin.

• Use heat-retention cooking. Bring the pot to a boil then wrap the pot, safely, in a blanket to keep it hot for hours. It works great for beans and rice, according to Yoder-Bontrager of Lancaster.

• Compost your kitchen waste, except for meat and grease. (See "What to Buy," below, for new composting equipment and accessories.)

• Stop using plastic. Rebecca Weybright, of Lancaster, uses canning jars and vintage refrigerator containers instead of plastic.

"I object to plastic, first and foremost, because it's petroleum-based," Weybright wrote in an e-mail. "We need to wean ourselves from petroleum for environmental, as well as socio-political, reasons.

"Glass takes longer to break down in the environment but when it does, we're left with a benign residue: sand, mostly. Plastic disintegrates more quickly but into chemical residue. Even recycling plastic, while better than pitching it in the landfill, takes a lot of energy."

• Cover odd-size bowls with upside-down plates to eliminate the use of plastic wrap, suggested High.

• Open the dishwasher door during the heated dry cycle and allow the dishes to air dry.

• Use old, linen tablecloths to make carrying bags to bring home produce from market. They don't have to be fancy, Weybright said.

• Yovana Bontrager, a recent Goshen College graduate and "green" fan, and her roommates, clean solely with baking soda and white vinegar. "So I now associate the smell of clean with vinegar rather than bleach," she wrote in an e-mail.

• Use a small toaster oven whenever possible, rather than heating up the large oven, suggested Linda Peachy of Lancaster. Or if you're going to use the oven, do what High does and bake extra things you will use, such as rice or granola.

• Do home canning and freezing so the same containers can be used year after year.

What to buy

• Consider buying an in-home composter. One such option can be found at nature-mill.com. According to the Web site, leftovers and kitchen waste can become garden fertilizer in two weeks with no mess, no odor — in your own kitchen.

• If you can't stand the idea of having a composter in your kitchen, buy an attractive kitchen compost crock, recommended by Jeff McCloud of Elizabethtown. The glazed ceramic crock holds kitchen waste for a week, using a filter to contain odor, until he adds its contents to the outside composter. Visit www.gardeners.com and search for compost crocks.

• Buy reusables instead of disposables. If you don't have disposables, such as plastic wrap, paper towels and aluminum foil in your house, you are forced to be more resourceful and find reusable items, Bontrager said.

• Buy compact fluorescent bulbs to replace your incandescent bulbs.

• Consider buying sponges and cloths that are reusable, are easy on the environment to produce and are biodegradable. Or you could save money and use your worn-out bath towels instead.

• Buy pantry staples in 10- to 15-pound paper sacks (Miller's Natural Foods in Bird-in-Hand is one source) and keep them in the freezer. Parcel out smaller amounts in glass jars.

• Fill the kitchen with local handmade crafts. Woodworkers use responsibly harvested local woods. Buying local also means a small carbon footprint, according to Nick Mohler, program director of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen.

• Buy a power strip for your microwave and turn it off when you are finished using it, Linda Wenger of Manheim Township said. Electronics and appliances continue to use electricity just by being plugged in.

• Buy environmentally sensitive cleaners and replace the toxic stuff under the sink and in the dishwasher, Geoghan suggested.

• Buy locally grown foods and preserve them. It's a good way to reduce the environmental footprint of food production.

• Buy cast-iron skillets or cookware without non-stick coating. Wenger writes: "I have gotten rid of the pans I owned with a non-stick coating as I have been reading that those chemicals are showing up in people's bodies. I love my cast-iron skillets!"

Cuisinart has also introduced a line of GreenGourmet cookware, that the company says is eco-friendly and performs like non-stick pans. Visit cuisinart.com.

What not to buy

• Avoid aluminum foil, suggested Yoder-Bontrager. Making 1 kilogram of aluminum takes 15 kilowatt hours, according to Yoder-Bontrager; 7 kilowatts according to the Aluminum Association. In addition, mining bauxite can cause environmental damage to rivers and oceans. Smelting of aluminum releases poisonous fluorine in the atmosphere. Although aluminum can be recycled using much less power, very few recycling services accept kitchen foil, except salvage yards, Yoder-Bontrager said.

However, if you must have foil, Reynolds Wrap just introduced a foil made from 100 percent Recycled Aluminum. See reynoldswraprecycled.com for more information.

Remodeling

Nearly every part of the kitchen can be environmentally friendly, Geoghan, who advises home buyers on green remodeling ideas, said.

• Cabinets can be refaced and refinished with new hardware instead of buying new products. If you want to buy new, use products utilizing FSC (Forest Stewardship Council)-certified woods or new materials, such as wheatboard rather than traditional formaldehyde-laced pressboard.

• Consider recycled rubber or Marmoleum for flooring. Cork and bamboo are popular but may not be suited for heavy kitchen traffic.

• If you are concerned about reports regarding granite producing radon emissions, consider concrete countertops or another surface that's made of recycled materials. (Visit www.epa.gov and search for granite and radon to view the findings on this issue.)

• LED lighting is the hot topic. It is still cheap to operate but still expensive to buy. Consider also skylights and Solatubes.

Free seminar on electric issues

Learn how to read your electric bill, how a kilowatt is measured and how much it costs during a free seminar sponsored by the Rotary Club of Ephrata and the Ephrata Recreation Center, Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. at the Ephrata Recreation Center.

Hands-on demonstrations will feature ways to help understand what a power factor is, where you are using your power, resistance electric heat, ground-source heat pumps, and hot water heaters. Appliance experts will be answering questions on what are Energy Star appliances and how are they rated.

Also tax experts will be there to discuss alternative energy sources and the tax credits associated with them.

Call 738-1167 to reserve your seat.

Find out what you can recycle, and where: www.lcswma.org/rDropCenter.asp

E-mail: lespenshade@lnpnews.com