In this day and age when everyone is very concerned with being environmentally friendly, people are looking for ways and means of "going green" in almost all aspects of their lives. A case in point is we want to make sure that how the food that we eat – both plant or animal -  are grown, to how they are prepared and cooked and eventually served on our dinner table, in short how they are treated and processed, are all environmentally "green."  Having eco-friendly cookware is now a must for very well appointed kitchen.

Most modern day kitchens nowadays are still equipped with cookware that are manufactured mainly from non-renewable resources, from metals mined from the bowels of the earth, milled, and processed in high energy-consuming ways that are detrimental to the environment. Pull out a cabinet drawer in any middle class kitchen and you will find a much-used Teflon-lined pan. Eco-friendly cookware is still to make an appearance as part of the scene in many kitchens.  Many years back, Teflon-lined cookware was the rage for its much-touted non-stick qualities enabling cooks to cut back if not entirely eliminate cooking fats from their dishes. These days, cooking up dinner in more eco-friendly ways can take many forms— not just in choosing the ingredients to the dishes that we will serve. People have become more conscious about buying eco-friendly cookware, about getting flat-bottomed pans that conduct heat more evenly and more efficiently enabling one to with a smaller flame and saving on power costs; about choosing non-stick cookware made with "greener" alternative materials as we still lean towards cooking with less fats. Going for eco-friendly cookware may also mean opting to buy second hand pots and pans as part of our efforts to recycle and reuse household items and contribute to conservation efforts.

When trying to equip your kitchen with eco-friendly cookware, it will be prudent to be guided by the kind or style of cooking that you do and the dishes that you serve when buying cookware.  Instead of purchasing, a full set of color coordinated and designed pots and pans, some of which you end up not using and just cluttering up your kitchen cabinets. Get caste iron pots for long, slow cooking dishes. Buy flat copper-bottomed saucepans for fine and delicate sauces. Obtain a few non-sticks, heavy aluminum pans in different sizes for quick frying and sautéing. In all of these, make sure to buy pots and pans that come with their own lids as keeping the pot covered can help you shorten your cooking time and lessen your overall energy bill.

Tips for buying eco-friendly cookware:

•Buy individual pieces based on the type of foods your prepare;

•Look for pots and pans made from cast iron, aluminum or copper as they are the best heat conductors;

•Buy cookware manufactured from recycled materials to conserve natural metal resources of the Earth;

•Choose pieces that are marked "oven safe" so that you can use them on your stovetops as well as your ovens.