Tips to Green Up This 4th of July

Pays to Live Green

Let’s show we care about our country by making this July 4th much more green. The usual 4th consists of spending a day at a parade or festival, barbecuing and celebrating a fireworks display to finish off the evening. We can be more conscious of our environment throughout this day of celebrations in a variety of ways.

Reuse and Recycle

Just as with our day to day activities, reusing and recycling should be an integral part of the day. If going to an event, be sure to recycle anything that can be. This is especially important when it comes to food. Things like soda cans, bottles, aluminum foil and cardboard containers can all be easily recycled. One way to really save money at events is to take your own reusable drinking bottles such as an Otterbottle or Klean Kanteen. You won’t need to buy expensive drinks and you will be preventing another bottle or can to be used. If having a barbecue or going on a picnic, you can get creative by reusing fabrics that you would normally throw out and make them into something useful like napkins or even an entire picnic blanket.

Eco-Friendly Dinnerware

How often do you see plastic utensils and styrofoam plates being used at a typical bbq or picnic? There are so many eco-friendly options on the market with competitive pricing so you don’t have to buy these types of products. Bamboo and corn starch are just a few of the safe and biodegradable materials used to make dinnerware. If you don’t want to go out and buy disposable items, why not just take a chance with some of your own plates, utensils and cups. You may end up with a few less pieces because of clumsy friends, but you will generate much less trash.

Local Foods

Buying local foods should be a must to creating or enjoying fantastic 4th of July meals. Attend local farmer’s markets or farm to get a great selection of produce, meats and dairy products. All will be fresh and tasty. Most local foods are naturally born/grown and will be far healthier for your family and friends. If there are any scraps of food leftover, be sure to send those to the compost bin so that they won’t contribute more waste to our packed landfills. Don’t let any meats or dairy products end up in the compost as that can attract unwanted guests.

Cooking

There is no better way to spend this holiday than outdoors and this means lighting up the grill. Be sure to use a variety of green grilling practices so by cooking with clean natural gases or natural charcoal products. Cleanup can also be green by using homemade or natural cleaning products.

Fireworks

Fireworks can be a huge polluter because of the amount of smoke and chemicals it can put into our environment. To get the color mixtures that we like so much, toxic metals like barium, strontium and antimony are needed. These metals can have dangerous effects on the environment as well as our health. I’m not saying you have to avoid fireworks shows, as there is sometimes no way to avoid them. There are various options of eco-friendly fireworks such as the biodegradable fireworks that Disney uses in their displays every night. As more research is done, the prices will begin to go down on fireworks such as these. Let whoever does you local fireworks show know about these options and they may end up making the switch or are already using them.

How are you going to make this 4th of July a little more green?