Curious to learn more about how microwaving your mug cake is related to reducing your environmental footprint? Mug cakes and the environment may seem like disparate and only distantly connected topics, but as we began to uncover in our last post, what you choose to consume and how you cook it are closely related to sustainability and make up a large portion of your personal environmental impact. 

Beyond saving energy and lowering heating costs, as well as reduced air pollution and fewer dirty dishes to wash, cooking food in the microwave is in certain ways much more efficient nutritionally and functionally, making it more conducive to a low-impact and more sustainable lifestyle. 

Due to the lower cooking temperature, reduced cooking time needed, and more even heating of food through deeply penetrating microwave radiation, microwaves waste and break down fewer nutrients in food. Spinach, for instance, retains nearly all of its folate (a vitamin for healthy red blood cells) in the microwave but loses 77% on a conventional stove. Microwaves also produce less of the cancer-causing carcinogens often produced through the charring of food; for instance, potatoes are less likely to produce acrylamide, and bacon produces less nitrosamines. 

In terms of preparing food sustainably for one person, microwaves are more suitable for cooking smaller, single servings of food, as opposed to heating an entire oven for a single meal. Also, smaller portions mean less leftovers, and less food waste. Microwaves also take up much less space, meaning they are well-fitted for a tiny home or smaller living space, such as an apartment or converted school bus. 

Maintaining your microwave also has implications for the environment: because microwaves are smaller, they require less cleaning product, and also turn off automatically, which reduces the risk of fires—and all of the damages inflicted by fire. Also, making sure to clean your microwave regularly will actually make it even more effective and energy-efficient by maximizing the radiation reflected back at food (The Scientific American). 

So, microwave (and enjoy) your mug cake knowing that you are at least producing a smaller environmental footprint, as well as maximizing the nutritional benefit you receive from your food, than if you were to bake an entire cake in a conventional oven. However, is the microwave the most environmentally-friendly option, and are there more important questions to consider? Looking at the broader picture, it is worth reconsidering how we can most sustainably utilize space, energy, and nutrients to cook our food, as well as related issues such as where our food is coming from, how it is produced, and whether food and resources are being distributed equitably across populations with minimal waste. The facts in this blog post come from a History of Microwave article.