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Sustainable Swaps For A Plastic-Free Picnic! 

Posted By Christina on July 7, 2022

Introduction  

 

Did you know that 17,000 plastic bottles are bought every minute and 500 billion plastic bags are used each year?  

That’s a lot of unnecessary plastic waste. 

Take part in Plastic Free July 2022 by hosting your own Plastic Free Picnic! From pre-prepared sandwiches and snacks that come packaged in plastic; to disposable plates, cups and cutlery – picnics have the potential to generate a lot of waste.  So here are some simple and easy tips to make your picnic as plastic-free as possible.  

Use leftovers or make something fresh at home 

 

If you have leftovers at home already, a picnic is a perfect opportunity to use them up and share dishes with friends – simply take them along in a container. Likewise, instead of buying ready-prepared sandwiches, cakes and dips for your picnic, take the opportunity to whip up some recipes yourself. You could also encourage your friends to do the same. For instance, you can mix your leftover vegetables or meat with pasta to make a fresh delicious picnic meal. Moreover, you can head to a bakery for a freshly baked baguette and fill empty glass jars with homemade houmous; bake some cakes or cookies. In addition to this, you can visit your local zero waste shop and pick up some loose fruit and vegetables to nibble on during your picnic.  

Plastic-Free Preparations.  

Reusable products and containers are an easy way to keep litter at home. For example, you can store absolutely anything in either Tupperware or glass containers. You can carry all your picnic essentials in a reusable cotton tote bag or basket. Doodle Bag offers a variety of tote bags that are picnic-friendly. This includes our beautiful natural jute bag.  You can use a blanket or bed sheet as a picnic mat. Additionally, you can cut up old clothes and use those as napkins instead of using disposable napkins.  

 

Use reusables  

Your motto for your next picnic should be reduce, reuse, recycle!  Hence, it would be a great idea to encourage all the picnic attendees to bring their reusables with them to the picnic. You can bring drinks in reusable bottles and flasks.  Another way to minimise plastic waste is to bring reusable cutlery including cups and plates as Plastic cutlery is difficult to recycle and is mostly only used once, making it extremely wasteful.  A good alternative for plastic cups is reusable mason jars. Not thirsty anymore? You can also put a lid on it! Similarly, avoid plastic straws. A recent study has shown that as many as 8.3 billion plastic straws pollute the world’s beaches, so it’s time to ditch them for good. Finally, Once, your picnic is over a great way to package all the leftovers (which hopefully there are not a lot of! ) in beeswax wraps is to keep them clean and fresh.  

Conclusion  

 

We hope you have found these plastic-free tips useful. It’s time to go outside with a blanket, and a basket full of delicious food, and have yourself an amazing plastic-free picnic.  

 

Celebrate Plastic Free July, by ditching your plastic bags and investing in eco-friendly 100% natural cotton tote bags, which can be personalised with your logo or design. View our full range here