Summer Challenge: A Waste-Free Picnic

A picnic or a celebration of any kind usually ends up with a huge amount of waste. And you have additional work of cleaning up and taking the garbage away, too. So, can a picnic really turn out to be a waste-free event? Let’s try and minimize waste, shall we?

Paper is where it's at

Let’s start with some basics. Where should you put a used paper plate (of course we're not using plastic ones)? Most people throw it away among paper garbage. But it doesn’t belong there at all! Used paper plates should actually be disposed of as organic waste. Why? The paper decomposes, and so does food. According to garbage factories, organic waste is thermally treated and compost is formed. Not just plates, also picnic glasses and utensils made of bio-degradable materials.

Buy in bulk, use stuff that can be recycled

How about the items that aren’t as degradable as paper? After a picnic ends we are mostly left with cans, bottles and packaging. Even these can all be dealt with. If you’re not a fan of separating the waste – just think of the lower waste bill!


You can also plan your picnic a bit better. Beer and wine can be ordered in barrels. Even return barrels, where full barrels can be returned to the manufacturer/store. Juices can be prepared by yourself) or bought in a glass to a gathering. Sure, glass is a bit heavy, but it is a good compromise as it doesn’t impact the environment in the negative way. Bottles can be reused or recycled. And when drinking with straws, use paper or even metal straws instead of plastic ones.

Are any decorations “green”?

Are you still decorating with baloons? Do you know where they end up? It takes a lot of water and energy to make balloons, which are then only used for a couple of hours before they end up in a landfill, where they will take years to decompose.

But this does not mean decoration is out of the question. We have a few ideas! You can use a simple string and attach photos to it – everyone will love looking at them. Another idea is to use fabric bunting. This looks fun and you can easily reuse it. You could even try making it yourself!