Eating al fresco can be fun whatever the season, as long as you protect yourself against sun, rain and cold, so here are a few top tips for the perfect environmentally friendly barbecue.
- First of all do your preparations: look up barbecues online for ideas on exciting and ecologically sound barbecue recipes, including meat free options.
Try not to be tempted to use paper plates and disposable cutlery as they are a waste of resources. Proper crockery and knives and forks are much nicer to use as well.- Set up a shelter or gazebo for guests to get relief from blazing sun or rain – hopefully the former rather than the later.
- Ensure a good range of drinks and nibbles are available as barbecue food invariably takes longer than anticipated to cook.
- Don’t use chemical firelighters, they are harmful to the environment and can taint your food too; try scrunched up newspaper instead, it will work just as well.
- Buy charcoal which has been responsibly sourced and is branded with a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes (PEFC) seal of approval.
- If you don’t own a barbecue then buy or borrow an efficient brand of barbecue such as weberbbq.co.uk to reduce the amount of fuel used.
- Position the barbecue itself so that any wind will send the smoke away from your guests and will not bother the neighbours. Imagine the waste of resources if you had to re-do all that washing which is happily drying on the line!
- Make sure all meats are cooked through thoroughly and discard anything you are concerned about.
- Finally when it is all over, use the barbecue ash on the garden rather than throwing it away: the ultimate party recycling!
