http://www.care2.com/greenliving/plastic-free-picnics-protect-family.html
Protect Your Family With Plastic-Free Picnics
By Annie B. Bond
Picnics using plastic are best left a thing of the past. So are plastic water bottles, plastic food wrap, and plastic children’s toys. Research is mounting by the day that everyday plastic consumer products are responsible for a wide array of serious health problems at very low levels. The problems range from alterations of the brain, to prostate and breast cancer, and reproductive disorders.
Food, especially hot food, can easily migrate into plastic. Here are 10 tips for avoiding ingesting and breathing plastic when on a picnic:
1. Plastic water bottles.
The Alternative: Stainless steel water bottles.
For information, click here. Another alternative is to buy corn-based “plastic” water bottles.
2. Plastic drinking straws.
The Alternative: Danny Seo offers an interesting idea for alternatives to throw-away drinking straws in his book Simply Green Parties. He suggests you use Twizzler candy–long strands of licorice that are hollow inside–as straws by snipping the ends. You can serve them in glasses, and kids can drink their beverages and then eat the straw!
3. Plastic plates.
The Alternative: Stainless steel plates, wooden plates, paper plates (which are better for health than plastic but wasteful of trees unless they are made from 100 percent post-consumer recycled content).
4. Plastic cups.
The Alternative: Stainless steel cups, paper cups (see about paper plates, above).
5. Plastic utensils.
The Alternative: Metal utensils.
6. Plastic table cloth.
The Alternative: Cloth tablecloth.
7. Plastic wrap on food.
The Alternative: Aluminum foil, wax paper, cellophane.
8. Plastic beach ball.
The Alternative: Leather ball.
9. Plastic kite.
The Alternative: Paper kite.
10. Plastic containers.
The Alternative: Japanese bento boxes; Chinese take out boxes (many Chinese restaurants will sell these cheaply); stainless steel bowls covered with aluminum foil (and set upright in a picnic basket).
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5 comments
add your comment »I also noted the leather ball alternative. I don't see promoting using animals as a toy any better than plastic, there are still better altenatives. I use bamboo plates and regular silverware on picinics. I understand the purpose of using plastic sliverware and straws is to throw them away. But why be wasteful? I have even cut back on paper products at home because I have still have to do dishes. The bowls, pots, and silverware and glasses still have to be washed so what is a few plates added to it? If you are just eating a snack, like a sandwich or something not messy just use a cloth napkin to hold it. A small dessert dish takes 2 seconds to wash after a snack.
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I noticed it had said leather ball as an alternative to a plastic ball. It doesn't make sense to kill an animal for food and use the byproducts as entertainment just as much as it not making sense to purchase plastic products anymore. The waste produced by both plants is a hefty weight in CO2 and waste emissions. maybe something that is made recycled but certainly not it's first go around.
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I'm surprised that you do not mention corn cutlery and bamboo plates and cutlery. Corn will eventually decompose and bamboo is very sustainable, as opposed to paper or plastic.
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I have a child's bento box that I use for my sons lunch. Unfortunately, it's plastic, but I've used the same one on a daily basis for about a year - it's cute and now we're packing waste free lunches!
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Another great place for those stainless steel bottles is Reusable Bags. You can also buy a great eco friendly tote bag to carry all those great alternatives to plastic listed above or maybe an insulated container for all those picnic foods.
Plus they also give us a reality check, when you see the rising totals of all the plastic bags that have been consumed this year. Scary.
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