Greenify Your Fourth Of July
By Jillian Polaski
Filed Under Conscious Commerce, Green Living |
Fourth of July is upon us once again. Who doesn’t like getting together with friends and family, firing up the old grill, enjoying some BBQ, and watching the fireworks after the sun goes down? Picnics, parties, beer to drink, games to be played…good times.
Maybe you’d even like the Fourth Of July reverie, along with that three-day weekend, to last forever. Well, sadly much of the plastic dishware and decorations from the July 4th will do just that…in a landfill. Bummer. Since foregoing your annual patriotic grillfest is simply not an option, here are some easy things that you can do this Fourth of July to lessen your impact on America The Beautiful.
Food
What could be more patriotic than supporting your local farmers? Rather than hitting up the nearest supermarket chain this year, get all your fruit, veggies, cheese, and meat from your local farmer’s market. The food has fewer miles to travel to land on your picnic table, which cuts down on waste from gasoline consumption. Chances are your local ingredients will be much fresher and tastier than the supermarket stock from South America.
As for the all important beer, try picking up a keg from your local brewery. Keeping your brew local will not only reduce the fossil fuels burned for your barbecue and eliminate all those individual bottles and cans, it will also make your friends think you’re really cool.
Grilling
It’s estimated that every Fourth of July, Americans burn the equivalent of 2,300 acres of forest, consume enough energy to run 20,000 households for a year, and emit 225,000 tons of carbon dioxide. That’s a lot and it’s just from the barbecues. Of petroleum, charcoal, and electric grills, petroleum emit the least amount of carbon dioxide and electric the most, with charcoal falling somewhere betwixt the two.
What can you do? Buy charcoal harvested from sustainably managed forests, like Lazzari, available at Whole Foods. Or be the first on your block to rock a solar stove. At least with these options, you can know that an old growth forest wasn’t razed just so that we could enjoy that chargrilled flavor on the Fourth.
Speaking of chargrilled flavor, there are some interesting facts about meat you should know before you fire up the grill. Fat drips off of meat and flames back up in the form of smoke that contains carcinogenic hydrocarbons-bad for both you and the planet. Choose a leaner cut of meat and trim off the fat. If you’re ready to reduce your meat consumption (and your carbon footprint), try some veggie sausages or grilled vegetables like portabello mushrooms, corn, peppers, and onions. Yum.
Dishware
Try serving up the barbecue on reusable dishes this Fourth of July. The clean-up from your barbecue may take a little longer, but the Earth will thank you for it. Bamboo bowls and plates are great for outdoor gatherings; they’re lightweight, won’t break as easily as glass, and bamboo is a renewable resource that grows rapidly without the use of pesticides. For another alternative to single-use paper and plastic dishware, try hitting up your local thriftstore for an inexpensive set of dishes to use outdoors.
If the idea of all those dishes still turns your stomach, there are some biodegradable and recycled alternatives to styrofoam and plastic picnicware. Check out the great products from Recycline and Simply Biodegradable.
Fireworks
Fireworks and the Fourth of July go together like pumpkins and Halloween-it just doesn’t seem the same without ‘em. Though they’re magical and exciting, fireworks can be damaging to both you and the environment. Many of the chemicals used to produce the colors in fireworks have been linked to cancer and respiratory problems. Fireworks can contaminate water and deposit tons of debris. Though, there’s not much in the way of environmentally friendly fireworks for the everyday consumer yet, scientists are working on producing greener fireworks that make their color from nitrogen-rich compounds, rather than toxic heavy metals like lead, barium, and chromium. Disney has also come up with a new technology that uses compressed air to launch fireworks, rather than gunpowder. The best thing you can do to keep your fireworks experience eco-friendly is to enjoy the public display nearest you and skip buying the low grade bottle rockets and cherry bombs altogether. That way you don’t have to worry about the kiddos setting themselves or the house on fire, which is always a big plus at any family get together.
Independence Day is a time for cooking, community, relaxation and family. It also gives us the rare opportunity to reflect on this beautiful land we have all become a part of. With just a little extra effort, we can make this Fourth Of July a time in America of both celebration and conservation. She’s worth it.
Posted on July 1, 2008 |
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I love the idea of getting all my food for 4th of July from my local farmer’s market! Americans definitely need to support our small farms.