How can I picnic plastic free and keep beauty spots free of litter?

With the relaxation of the COVID 19 lockdown rules, it has been so lovely to be able to meet up with friends and family in open spaces and have a picnic lunch together. But it has also made me so sad to see the recent reports of litter left on beaches and beauty spots.

There’s two things going on here. 1, what possesses people to drop litter?! This has always made me mad. (My Papa used to carry a bag to collect litter on his daily walks so it’s in my blood!) I’m guessing alcohol may be to blame in many cases. 2, even if you are good at disposing of litter properly (which of course you are!) there are ways to reduce the waste in the first place. 

One way might be to consider using reusable containers for your picnic. Or what about getting into the habit of keeping reusable cutlery in your bag for an impromptu munch?

I know that we are all busy. Sometimes it’s just easier to pick up a takeaway sandwich or salad. And I know accidents happen and wrappings may get blown away by the wind or even pinched by dogs! But we have all coped with changes in our lives during the pandemic, so now might be the time to reflect on some of our ingrained habits. 

Maybe you will now decide to take a small action that will reduce plastic waste. For a budget option you could reuse containers from your lockdown takeaways and bring cutlery from home. For a more classy affair you might want to use some of our glass reusable food containers and bamboo cutlery. We choose to use glass to store food to avoid hormone disrupting toxins that are found in plastics. And these ones from Lifefactory have a silicone sleeve to give a bit more protection. 

Admittedly you will need to be a little more organised if bringing your own food. But we’ve all gotten used to cooking for ourselves in lockdown so hopefully that’s not too hard. Plus it’s cheaper, you know what going in it and you get to make exactly what you want.

The other benefit, especially while we are still concerned about the COVID 19 virus, is that using our own containers will reduce the amount of handling by people outside our household.

So, on your next socially distanced picnic with friends and family, make sure not to be one of the litter bugs by packing your own food in a reusable food container and bringing reusable bamboo cutlery.