Environmental Protection


Three Rs of Environmental Protection
  1. Reduce - Try to organize your shopping list. This will help minimize the waste of food.
  2. Reuse - Containers, packaging, and refillable bottles can be re-used for various purposes. This helps to save time, money, energy, and resources.

  3. Recycle - The key component of modern waste reduction is recycling, which means making products into new products. Sorting household goods is very important in recycling: glass, paper, metal, and plastics.


View the video:



Safe disposal of toxic materials is extremely important to the environment. Provincial and local sites are available to dispose of potentially harmful materials. These items should never be disposed in garbage dumps or near water sources.


Material Handling in Food Preparation

Most food products are not hazardous, using and storing all chemicals relating to food preparation in a safe manner is very important. For example, bleach is used to sanitize equipment and surfaces; various products are used to control rodents and insects. All could be hazardous if not stored properly

  1. Keep all chemicals locked safely away from children.

  2. Substances should be in the original containers to prevent mix ups or accidental poisoning

  3. Substances should be kept at the proper temperatures and in containers marked clearly.

  4. Toxic substances should be kept away from food.


Storage of Chemicals: 

Several principles should be observed with respect to the storage of hazardous chemicals. These may seem odd concerns for you in your kitchen, but they apply to household kitchens and to industrial facilities such as bakeries.

  • Care should be taken to segregate incompatible chemicals. This includes such dangerous combinations as

    • Acids + Bases
    • Flammables + Oxidizers
    • Water Reactives + Aqueous Solutions

For this reason, use special care when using alphabetical storage. This might be convenient, but such a method could bring incompatible substances together.

  1. Store chemicals in proper facilities such as acid cabinets or flammable solvent cabinets. These cabinets may be ventilated to prevent the buildup of harmful amounts of vapours.

  2. Some chemicals must be kept cold; therefore, they must be refrigerated. Refrigerators used for such purpose should be explosion-proof design if flammable vapors are an issue. Refrigerators used for chemical storage must never be used for foods

  3. Sometimes fume hoods are used for the storage of chemicals that emit noxious vapours. Hoods used for this purpose should be dedicated to this use and not used for conducting chemical reactions. Also, ensure that materials being stored in the hood do not interfere with the operation of the fume hood.

  4. Keep only the minimum required amounts of chemical on site. That way, if there is ever a fire or chemical incident, less material will be involved

  5. Some chemicals are unstable over time. For example, many ethers form explosive peroxides during prolonged storage. Chemical containers should be dated when they are opened, and any material beyond its safe retention period should be discarded properly.

  6. Gas cylinders not in active use should be stored with the valve caps in place. Cylinders should be secured safely with a strap or mounting bracket.

  7. Dangerous chemicals such as corrosives should not be stored on high shelves above eye level. A falling bottle could cause harm to persons in the vicinity.