We hope you'll enjoy the Fourth of July holiday in a very Green way. Here are a few tips for you so you can add some Green to your red, white and blue celebration.
When you're planning a party or cookout, be sure to put out two container for waste -- one for trash and one for recycling. A good psychological way to get your message out is to make the recycling container bigger than the trash container. Remember that in Anne Arundel County we can recycle just about everything except food. And if you're going to picnic somewhere where recycling is NOT offered, put it in your own bag and take it home to do the right thing.
But why not just cut down on trash and recycling altogether by NOT using disposable plates and knives and forks. It's much more Green to use the types you can wash and use again. If you're inviting people to join you, why not make the event a BYOP - that is, Bring Your Own Plate... and fork, and cup. Cruisers do this all the time out on their boats. It's a great practice for cookouts in parks too.
If you have to use disposable dinnerware, for your cookout or picnic, please, don't use foam plates or cups! Styrofoam is the worst thing you can buy. It is not recyclable, and will be on Earth for centuries. Don't buy this material for any purpose.
If you're grilling, consider that propane is much kinder on the environment than using charcoal and it's more efficient too.
And now to the beverages. It's very important to stay hydrated in hot weather, but buying individual plastic bottles of water is just not smart. Yes the plastic is recyclable, but manufacturing the bottles uses petroleum products, as does the transportation to the stores. And,
our tap water is just fine! Get your family some healthy, chemical-free reusable bottles for water and fill them at the tap. The safest are made of stainless steel. If you need more for your outing, fill up big containers at home and refill those reusable water bottles from there.
Bottled water creates up to 1.5 million TONS of plastic waste every year. According to Food and Water Watch, that plastic requires up to 47 million gallons of oil per year to produce. And over 80 percent of plastic bottles are simply thrown away to pollute our waterways and make marine animals sick. Just don't buy them. Take back the tap.
And finally, buy organic or locally produced food for your picnic or cookout. It's tastier and you'll be supporting local agriculture.
Enjoy the celebration of this great country's birthday!
Cheers,