Summer is officially here and if you haven’t been out to the beach or to your favourite park for a picnic you are missing out! At Green Coast Rubbish, we love a good summer barbeque and have some great ideas to make sure your summer picnic is good for the environment too.
- Plan ahead Do your picnic shopping ahead of time and start your prep the night before – if you are organized, it won’t seem like a big chore to prep your food.
Purchasing a quality picnic basket (complete with plates, cutlery, glasses, cloth napkins) to use year after year for your summer picnics can be a great idea.
- Buy in bulk – for snacks like nuts and dried fruit, avoid that pesky packaging in favour of the bulk aisle.
- Make homemade Make your own cookies. Pre-cut your own fruit and compost what you won’t be eating. Try out that new potato salad recipe. Make your own burger patties.
- Bring reusable dishes and containers. We recommend bringing your own plates, cups and cutlery for your picnic. It’s fine summer dining at its best to eat off a real plate instead of a napkin or paper plate which have to be disposed of.
- Find a treasure Don’t want to use your good cutlery? Check your local thrift store for these and other reusable picnic treasures.
- Make your own iced tea – brew a pot of herbal tea at home using your favourite loose tea. Once it cools, refrigerate overnight and add liquid honey for sweetness to taste and voila! Pour your tea into a thermos or a jug with a lid that fits in your cooler and you are good to go. No pesky packaging or cans even to recycle! Bringing a big jug for water is always a good idea to avoid the inevitable stack of problematic non biodegradable plastic bottles.
- Source a set of reusable cloth napkins for your summer picnic basket. For something simple, check your local dollar store. If you have a sewing machine, even better as there is nothing easier than whipping up a set of napkins in your favourite colours.
- Plan ahead for the aftermath You’ve chowed down that potato salad and burger and at this point you’ve got the food scraps to deal with. No worries, collect them in your reusable container and take them home for composting if your local park or beach doesn’t have a bin for organics. Collect any cardboard or plastics for recycling.
If this list of easy tips hasn’t got you thinking about a picnic this weekend, you must be living in cooler climes because we are totally psyched to get this zero waste party started!
