The long Labor Day weekend is here and many families will celebrate the end of summer and back to school season with a cook out.
Here are tips and ideas for keeping your Labor Day party and weekend eco-friendly:
Eco-friendly Drinks. Reduce the wastefulness of plastic water bottles and aluminum cans by serving pitchers of ice water, lemonade, iced tea, or juices. Put out permanent markers for guests to write their names on their cups to eliminate waste. If you do use bottles or cans, be sure to put out clearly marked recycling bins.
Green Paper Products. It is not always possible to avoid paper products, especially during a party, but today there are more eco-friendly paper products available. When you need to use disposable dishes, look for products that are recycled, biodegradable, or made from unbleached paper products.
Renewable paper-ware is made from bamboo, sugar cane, wood, reed, and other natural materials. Compostable paper-ware is made from renewable sugar cane and comes in hip and functional new square designs.
Grill Green. Hot dogs, hamburgers, shrimp, steaks, or corn on the cob on the grill create a smokin’ Labor Day menu, but did you know that your choice of charcoal matters? Choosing eco-friendly Forest Stewardship Council certified charcoal (just look for the FSC logo on the bag) ensures that no trees from endangered woodlands were cut to produce the charcoal for your Labor Day barbeque.
Forest Stewardship Council certified charcoal reduces greenhouse gases that are emitted when your charcoal burns. No unhealthy additives are released into the air or onto your food.