Eco-friendly Picnic and a Giveaway!

I think it’s really summer.  Picnic season is here and I thought I would share some easy eco-friendly tips on how to pack a greener picnic.  Don’t miss the giveaway at the end of the post with a great prize pack to get you started.

1. Use reusable plate, cups, cutlery and napkins

We got this picnic backpack as a wedding gift.  I love it.  We have brought it down to the beach for evening lobster bakes and now pack it up for family picnics. (Here is a link to a similar one at Amazon)

If you don’t want to lug around reusable cutlery, you can now opt for compostable wooden ones.  I LOVE these ones from Tulle & Twig.  What a fun way to spice up the picnic or backyard BBQ.

2. Pack snacks, fruits, sandwiches and other goodies in reusable bags from Itzy Ritzy and EcoDitty.

The Eco Ditty bag on top is made from only organic cotton and has a velcro closure.  It’s great for dry items, but washes great when pb&j; leaks out.
The Itzy Ritzy snack bag is a new love for three reasons.
      1. It is basically waterproof so it’s great for wet grapes and the like.
      2. It’s the perfect size for my iPhone for the beach.
      3. It has a zipper.  Zippers are a lot quieter in church than velcro.
I only have one of the mini snack bags and I think I need to get a few more since they are just the right size.  I don’t love that it says line dry because I need to fish it out of the wash.  Obviously it has made its way into the dryer once or twice and so far it still seems fine.

I also use snack bags from ReSnackIt (they have held up machine washed for over two years) and PlanetWise has one that wipes clean.

Save some green and just reuse your empty bread bags.  Not nearly as cute but they get the job done.

3. Offer the kids healthy snacks like fresh fruit, hummus and cheese instead of processed chips and crackers.  I also really like the squeezable pouches for kids.  If I don’t have any applesauce in the house to refill my own refillable squeeze pouches, I opt for a healthy puree from Ella’s Kitchen.  They are organic and have a range of squeezes, including baby food-like banana and pears.  There are also the “brekkies” that include some brown rice and yogurt and are great for when your kids don’t really eat the dinner at the picnic but you don’t want them to go hungry.  Both of mine will eat them at age 3 and one.   Shhh…don’t tell them how healthy the broccoli, pears and peas one is.  They LOVE it.

For the older kids, the Welches fruit snacks are handy to pack.  If you are past the worry of choking in the car stage, they are great for car trips.

4. Bring home your recyclables.  Sometimes you do end up with water bottles and cans of seltzer/soda/beer because it’s easy and convenient. Take the time to repack them and recycle them when you can at home.

5. Pack your own bibs instead of using disposable ones for the littles.  It’s a little more laundry but you are always doing laundry anyways if you have bib-wearing littles in your house.

6. Pack your favorite water bottle instead of many small, plastic water bottles.  We also have a large water cooler that we pack for the beach and use it to refill our water bottles during the day.  I switched to the Klean Kanteen because it has an opening big enough for ice.  It was crazy to me how many don’t open wide enough for ice.  Warm water at a picnic or the beach…no thanks.

7. Prep your food before you go.  This will cut down on the extra packaging you need to dispose of while away from home.

8. Pack non-electric games, like cards or encourage the kids to play hide and seek.  Use the picnic time as offline time.

Our playgroup annual pizza night picnic

Ok, now it’s GIVEAWAY time! $75 value!
Here is what you will win…
*2 Mini Snack Bags from Itzy Ritzy
*One Snack and One Sandwich Bag from EcoDitty
*Ella’s Kitchen sample pack
*Welch’s Fruit Snack pack
*Tulle and Twig 20 piece cutlery pack

Enter via Rafflecopter below.  Contest ends June 29th at midnight.  Winners must have a US address.  Winner will be notified via email.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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