Cooking up a greener kitchen

You already know kitchens are a hot-ticket room for any home sale. But if you're planning to sell, you'd be smart to consider a kitchen that's not just well-designed, but eco-friendly. Buyers will already be looking at the space critically and comparing it to other kitchens they've seen, so if yours not only makes the environment happy but can save them money, you'll be a step ahead of the competition.

3 tips towards a greener kitchen:

Use bamboo instead of wood. If you watch any home renovation TV shows or read any DIY magazines, you have probably heard about bamboo flooring. Bamboo is an eco-friendly option to traditional wood; it's stronger, more durable, and 50 percent harder than hardwood.

According to RealEstate.com, bamboo is most commonly known as a flooring alternative, but the truth is it can be used throughout a green kitchen from cabinets and countertops to cutting boards and rolling pins.

Incorporate recycled glass wherever you can. Recycled materials are always an environmentally-sound option. Recycled glass in particular can be incorporated into a variety of kitchen areas such as countertops and backsplash tiles. The bits and pieces of your recycled glass can come from absolutely anything that you can throw into a recycling bin such as broken mirrors, picture frames, and wine bottles.

Save money and go green with cork flooring. If you want an eco-friendly and budget-friendly option for new floors throughout your home, consider cork flooring. Cork is such a springy material that many find it more comfortable than traditional hardwood.

If you are spending a lot of time on your feet in your kitchen, cork flooring can be a much more joint-friendly option for your tootsies. Cork is also a natural insulator which means your feet won't be freezing during the colder months as they would with traditional tile flooring or hardwood floor boards.

A greener kitchen is definitely a major selling point for potential buyers, and it's also a good place to invest some extra money if you can as a lot of it (if not all of it) can be earned back during the home's sale. Using environmentally sound materials and energy-efficient appliances also means you'll start saving money while you still live in the home. What's not to love?