Three kitchen treasures help you easily have an eco-friendly good farming year

Text/ Chen Xiuling

To welcome the new year, every household is busy shopping and out with the old and in with the new. Among these tasks, preparing the New Year dishes and doing the big cleanup can both be outsourced or handled with the many convenient products on the market. But although they are easy to use, they are not necessarily safe.

The following few reminders for readers; I believe that starting from the new year, you and I can both live a life that is reassuring and eco-friendly.

Reminder 1: Do not wash vegetables with salad detergent or salt

Reason: Salad detergent contains surfactants, and if it is not rinsed clean, you end up eating even more chemicals. Salt has limited cleaning effectiveness, and soaking too long also causes nutrient loss, so the loss outweighs the gain.

Suggestion: For non-organic vegetables, remove the stems and roots, soak for 10 minutes, then rinse, scrub, and peel. Organic vegetables still need to be rinsed to remove sand, dust, insect eggs, and possible contaminants.

Reminder 2: Avoid using Teflon non-stick pans when cooking rice or dishes

Reason: When heated, Teflon releases perfluorooctanoic acid and trifluoroacetic acid. The former can cause miscarriage and infertility and damage the liver, while the latter destroys the ozone layer and causes acid rain.

Suggestion: Choosing woks, electric cookers, and stew pots made of stainless steel, ceramic, or glass is safer for cooking.

Reminder 3: Do not use plastic wrap when heating food

Reason: Plastic wrap has added toxic plasticizers - phthalates (especially PVC material). It is an environmental hormone that promotes the growth of cancer cells and reduces sperm count.

Suggestion: Use a porcelain plate to heat food, and even if plastic wrap is used to cover it, it must be at least 2.5 cm away from the food.

Reminder 4: Use less dish soap when washing dishes

Reason: Some ingredients in dish soap are environmental hormones; some do not break down easily in the environment; the antibacterial triclosan and triclocarban may also turn into dioxin.

Suggestion: First wipe dishes with old cloths or used napkins, then wash with soapy water or hot water.

Reminder 5: Avoid commercial cleaners when cleaning the kitchen and bathroom

Reason: The Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection of the Ministry of Economic Affairs randomly tested bathroom cleaners and found that among 25 samples, they were either strongly acidic or strongly alkaline, and 13 contained the environmental hormone nonylphenol, which may cause acute and chronic poisoning. The products detected included well-known ones such as 3M, Formosa Plastics, Miao Guan Jia, and Wen Chieh.

Suggestion: Using recycled soap (bar soap), baking soda, and white vinegar from the kitchen can make the bathroom spotless.

Make good use of the three treasures, and cleaning will be trouble-free

Recycled soap (bar soap), baking soda, and white vinegar have good cleaning results, and are safe, eco-friendly, and cheap.

First treasure: Recycled soap

Soak it in water to make soapy water; it works well for washing dishes, countertops, range hoods, toilets, and windows. Especially after soaking, scrubbing is easy and effortless.

Second treasure: Baking soda

The baking soda used for baking cakes and cookies can deodorize and dehumidify, unclog drains, put out fires, clean bathtubs and sinks, and so on; it can truly be called versatile.

Third treasure: White vinegar

It cleans baking pans, microwaves, and thermos bottles, and can also work with baking soda to unclog drains.

The traditional idea is that the New Year must be accompanied by a big cleanup, but excessive scrubbing may cause sports injuries. It is better to do some small cleanups normally and make good use of the three treasures, so homemakers can have an easy and pleasant Spring Festival! (This article is reprinted from the Homemakers United Foundation Environmental Protection Foundation e-newsletter.)