Bake in Bulk: Some foods taste better the next day when re-heated. Save energy by baking an extra dish and cooking entire meals in the oven at the same time.

Carbonator: Purchase a seltzer siphon or carbonator to fizz your filtered water and flavor it with homegrown fruit or homemade syrups. Try the Soda Stream or one of its contemporaries to replace expensive sodas that come with cans and bottles you later have to recycle.

Cloth Towels: Try using long lasting cloth towels that can be washed instead of paper towels. Only use paper towels when needed. This helps lessen paper usage, and can help lessen the cutting of trees.

Coffee Press: Unplug or turn off coffee makers when not in use. They use up to 1500 watts when in use. Opt for using a coffee press instead and reheat your coffee in the microwave.

Cold Dishes: On hot days, don’t forget about serving salads, chilled soups and other dishes that require little prep and can be enjoyed cold. Try to serve dishes that do not require cooking or chilling to help conserve energy usage.

Cook in Bulk: Learn to cook in bulk. Bulk cooking is a more efficient use of energy and reduces trips to the store while cutting down of food costs. Refrigerate or freeze ready to eat meals.

Cook with Lids: Cooking with lids on your pots and pans will help to cook your food faster and keep it hot longer using less energy.

Cool Your Food: Let hot foods cool on the counter before putting them in your refrigerator or freezer. Hot foods cause the cooling unit to work longer and harder.

Don't Pre-heat Oven: Preheating ovens is almost prehistoric. Newer ovens come up to temperature so quickly, that preheating is often times unnecessary. Unless you’re cooking breads and pastries that are more sensitive to heat, stop pre-heating. Preheat the oven only when the recipe calls for it. There's no need to preheat the broiler.

Energy Star Label: Look for the Energy Star label for when buying home appliances. This assures you that the product is energy-efficient and will help to increase the appeal of your home should you decide to sell at any future point.

Extra Refrigerator: If you have a 2nd refrigerator, reconsider its necessity during periods when there is less demand for its use. Clean it out, prop it open a crack to prevent mold and mildew from forming and unplug it.

Foods in Resealable Containers: Purchase foods in resealable containers that allow you to use up the food easier without needed to use plastic wraps later to preserve. Avoid plastic wrap and plastic containers containing BPA or other dangerous additives that can leach into your food and water.

Fresh Produce: Buy fresh, unwrapped produce to cut down on unneeded packaging and cost. Become accustomed to bringing your own shopping bags.

Hot Pads: Hot pads can burn up to 1500 watts and burn your coffee compared to insulated dispensing devices that internally reflect heat.

Microwave Oven: Save considerable energy by using your microwave oven and pressure cooker whenever possible. They cook quickly using less energy.

Old Food Items: Remove old food items from the refrigerator regularly, so you don't waste electricity by needlessly keeping them cold all the time.

Oven Doors: Instead of opening that oven door several times to look in, learn to rely on the use of a timer or find a nice "green” cleaner with which to clean that oven window and get a better peek. When you open the oven door to peek at food inside you lose 25-75 degrees of heat. Wait until the food is almost done before opening the door.

Pan With Lids: Foods will cook faster and use less energy if you put lids on the pots and pans and make sure they're the right size for the burner.

Plastic Utensils: Replace cheap plastic utensils with sturdy longer lasting steel utensils that can’t rot, won’t break or won’t melt if left on the stove too long. Plus, stainless steel utensils are more environmental friendly than plastic.