Throw a green summer picnic

With the 4th of July coming up, and summer already in full swing, you may be thinking picnic! There are some easy steps you can take to green any picnic event.

Start with some green grilling:

• Make sure you’re grilling as green as you can on an eco-friendly barbecue.
• Grill veggies over meat (I know crazy) but vegetarian dishes are far more eco-friendly. At the very least cut out half the meat. Grilled corn, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and more are just as tasty, better for the earth, and better for your health.
• Put that fire out. It’s really not earth-friendly to burn down the forest, or even your backyard.

Pack an eco-friendly picnic basket. Make sure you pack non-disposable dishes, cloth napkins, and real silverware. If you must go with disposables at least snag some biodegradable disposable dishes.

Carpool to the picnic area if a lot of folks are going.

Take eco-friendly picnic activities along for the kiddos (and you). You can grab an earth-friendly Frisbee or a kid friendly outdoor eco-toy.

Block the sun with eco friendly sunglasses, non-toxic safe bug spray and healthy natural sunscreen.

Don’t feed the animals – it can cause more problems than you think.

If there’s a lake take along some eco-friendly swimwear.

If you need to mark the picnic spot, say for a family reunion picnic, don’t use balloons which can be set free and harm animals out in nature. Use paper streamers or brightly colored cloth. Be sure to take these items with you when you leave.

Are you planing a green picnic soon? Are you doing anything else (besides what’s noted above) to keep it green.