Cuisinart: Easy Being Green

Manufacturers of every stripe are clamoring to get on the eco-friendly bandwagon, from flat-screens to laptops to vegan shoes. Enter Cuisinart with a guiltless entry in the pots and pans aisle: the Green Gourmet cookware line that is nonstick and Teflon-free to boot. No PTFE, no PFOA, just a ceramic-based surface that will have you cutting back on oil without generating those toxic fumes that can turn an omelette into a weapon of gas destruction. Even the handles are made from 70% recycled stainless steel -- and they stay cool to the touch.

GreenGourmet's hard anodized construction promotes high heat conductivity, meaning less energy is required to ratchet the pans up to the desired temperature -- so you save on the energy bill cooking at medium heat, and also spare the environment a few fluorocarbons. But wait (as Ron Popeil likes to say), there's more! These marvels of modern engineering don't just claim to be nonstick -- they really are. Thus, less hassle while cooking, less water consumption when it's time to clean up. And they're happy in the oven up to 500º. Very handy, that.

Next time you're frying up some sweet Kobe burgers for dinner, you needn't feel quite as guilty for the footprint left at some meat processing plant in Iowa. But GreenGourmet pans are not just a karma reduction tool -- they actually perform in the kitchen, which is the true bottom line. Buy them a pan at a time at Bed Bath & Beyond, or treat yourself to the 12-piece set for $249.00 (Footnote: even the packaging is made from 100% recycled materials, and is printed with soy ink -- that's going the extra mile). See you at the store, Al Gore!