No plastic. No paper. No trash. Just a great zero-waste picnic outdoors with these sustainable lifestyle tips.
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When the sun is out and summer is in full swing, how many of us fall in love with picnics? Aside from enjoying the beauty of the outdoors, we can also be creative with menus and how the meal will be served. On a downward note, picnics can also damage the beautiful landscapes we seek out if we aren’t mindful of how we dispose of our trash. Raise your hand if you’ve ever used, plastic bags, straws, paper napkins, and plates. But, do you know that these single-use products aren’t beneficial to the environment, even if you do throw them away? There is a better way to enjoy nature and this article will offer picnic ideas that will help you to reduce waste and enjoy that you can enjoy and protect lush landscapes.
Pick The Right Getaway Bag
Skip plastic bags for luxe adult lunch bags, picnic baskets, and linen totes. Brands like So Young and Business & Pleasure offer linen styles that come in an array of soft prints and are insulated to keep food fresh until your destination. Plus, they’re well-made bags that you’ll look chic carrying again and again.
*While paper bags are recyclable and biodegradable, they still require 4x times as much energy to produce than plastic bags and have a shorter lifespan than both plastic and cloth bags. So invest in cloth bags or reusable baskets to have an item that you can use for years to come to reduce waste.
Pack Reusable
From the moment you purchase reusable napkins, flatware, or sandwich bags, buying single-use plastic items will seem silly in hindsight. These items will come in handy for picnics and snacks on the go for years to come.
*Plastic bags can take 500 years to decompose and more than a billion single-use plastic bags are given out yearly.
Bring Something Organic
Further, reduce plastic waste and opt for an organic cotton picnic blanket. It might surprise you to know that most picnic blankets are made from polyester. This plastic-based material breaks off into microplastics in your washer machine. By choosing a natural material like organic cotton, you’re reducing plastic waste and supporting a material whose crop is better for the environment than its conventional counterpart.
Clean Up… Sustainably
Using cloth paper towels might take some time to become accustomed to if you’re used to pulling off a roll and tossing it into the trash after cleaning up a spill. But, once you realize just how little waste you’re creating, you’ll never want to go back to single-use products again.
*Pro tip, to avoid having a soiled paper towel mingle with your clean food, bring an extra sandwich bag to place the dirty towels in.
And Compost, Recycle And Trash When You’re Home
More often than not there won’t be a recyclable or compostable bin when you’re out in nature. Bring extra reusable bags with you to store food scraps so that you can transport and safely dump them at home. This little sustainable lifestyle tip will help to ensure that trash and recyclable items are being properly disposed of to help preserve our gorgeous home in the long run.