Eco Friendly House And Garden

We all love eating outside – but plan ahead otherwise you could be creating waste.

There is nothing better than eating outside with your family and friends in the summer as it isn't something we Brits normally get the chance to do.  But watch out for potential problems that could fill your bin bags and make you break your eco promises!

Shops across the country are currently selling out of everything disposable – and this is where you shouldn't be involved!  However, it is really tempting to do so.  so here are a few tips to keep you on your toes.

The Barbeque Itself:

Now although the food needs to be cooked – it doesn't need to be done outside.  You can bring all the cooked meat outside along with all the salad and drinks you prepare – but using your own oven will actually be more eco friendly than buying a disposable barbeque that stops cooking effectively after about 5 minutes.

Your fitted outdoor cooker may well do a bit better for you, but all that smoke and open spacing means that a majority of the heat you generate with coals or gas is wasted as it passes right by your food and heats up your face!  Not to mention all that smoke.

photo credit: zoetnet

Food For Thought:

Why opt for the standard outdoor fare of sausages and burger slapped in a white bun with some lettuce and ketchup?  When you are cooking indoors you could rustle up some cous cous, pasta and better quality meat products – as well as using alternatives to bleached bread – like wholegrain pittas, corn wraps and homemade breads as they don't have to be burger-shaped!

And these days you don't need to go an buy lettuces and tomatoes – you should be growing them in your garden.  It is so satisfying to go and collect a handful of salad leaves, asparagus and radishes from your own garden to eat – or step in your greenhouse for fresh tomatoes!

The Washing Up:

No need to wash up after a barbeque – just throw everything in the bin!  Only if you forgot to plan ahead….  Buy buying a set of plastic 'crockery', cups and large bowls you can stop worrying about broken plates and dishes and start enjoying yourself!

The dreaded paper plates – aren't so eco friendly if you think about it.  They never last well with sauces and hot food on them anyway – and you can't compost them with cooked food all over them – or really throw them in the recycling – so they go in the bin.

Plastic cutlery rarely serve their purpose and can't be recycled either, and we all know where plastic cups go.

So spend out on a great set of long-lasting outdoor products that you can use year after year for such events without having to worry about breaks or filled to the brim bin bags!

Or that last minute rush to the shops over the bank holiday to get supplies. 

This might sound a bit strange – but I am opting for disposable plates for my party!

I never thought I would find a positive reason to buy a disposable product – but paper plates might just be the first!

I was thinking, I don’t have a dishwasher and I only have about 10 plates and even less bowls, so hosting an 4 day munchies feast with some friends would have caused me some serious problems in the kitchen department!

Now, there was no reason to buy more crockery for the occasion as it would just sit in the cupboard for ever more as I don’t need any more - and washing up several times a day just seemed a bit of an energy drain and a huge party-pooper:  ‘Lets have some more houmus and dips!’ says a friend after beating me at Mario Kart for the 4th time, ‘Yeah sounds great, but hang on while I just quickly wash up again…..’

In come the paper plates!
So, they are disposable and I couldn’t find any in my store that were FSC approved – but they can be composted with the remnants of food still on them or biodegrade very easily – and they won’t waste hot water and detergent.

But does that make them the better choice?

If I had a larger family and/or a dishwasher then the plates would be a much better option. 

Firstly, the crockery would be well used over the following year so well worth upping the stocks – and secondly, most dishwashers are now so energy and water efficient that they are less wasteful than washing up the old fashioned way!

But when you only have a hot water cylinder and live alone – then washing up doesn’t seem like the best option.  For a start, I would have to have the boiler on most of the day to make sure that everyone can have a bath and wash their hands through the day – let alone keep filling the sink.

Yes, I could boil the kettle for the washing up water – but this is really going out of the way – especially if my not-so-eco-friendly friend offers to do the dishes for me!

After The Party:
Well, my compost heap will have a fresh layer or tough materials to stoke it’s bacteria, and the water system will have less food waste flowing through it – that’s for sure.

But will it nag at my conscience? 

Did I do the right thing?